Harrison Ford playfully smacked co-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge on her first day on the set of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Waller-Bridge told the BBC on Friday.
The scene was set in a New York bar. “I was a little nervous. And I said to him, ‘If I get like, a little in my head, and if I’m just rubbish, at any point, you can tell me to go again.’ And he was like ‘You in your head, why?’ And I said, ‘Well, you know, it’s here. And it’s with you.’ And then he just rolled up his script and just smacked me on the head with it and was like, ‘Does that help?,'” Waller-Bridge told the “Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James” show.
When James asked if the smack did help, Waller-Bridge said, “It helped so much. It was hysterical. And then he got up and squeezed my shoulder and went, ‘You’re doing great, kid.’ And that’s still a moment.”
The “Fleabag” creator and actor added that there was “generosity” in being smacked on the head with a script. “It wasn’t like a violent act when people panicked – he was allowing me to feel comfortable. And I think he’s been really moved by this whole experience,” Waller-Bridge said.
Describing the last day of shoot, Waller-Bridge said that she and Ford were in wet suits and 1960s-style diving goggles in the tank at the U.K. Pinewood Studios. “It was one of the more surreal days and Harrison was drawn out of this paddling pool and put on top of a ladder, dripping wet in his wet suit. And all the crew came around and everyone was emotional. And he was up there saying ‘Thank you so much’ to everybody,” Waller-Bridge said.
“It was really moving, with the crew just applauding him and him thanking everybody so much for the hard work. And my god, everyone worked so hard. This film is so ambitious, and it’s such a spectacle and they really care about Indiana Jones and really care about Harrison, so there was a real sense of that every day,” Waller-Bridge added.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is now playing at cinemas worldwide.
