EXCLUSIVE: Harrison Ford's 'Dying Regrets' Revealed — From 'Desperate' First Roles to Pretending to Despise 'Star Wars'

Harrison Ford is a Hollywood legend – the rugged, wisecracking star who brought us some of the most iconic characters in film history. Whether he was piloting the Millennium Falcon as Han Solo, cracking a whip as Indiana Jones, or hunting down replicants in Blade Runner, Ford became the ultimate action hero.

But even the greats have their moments of regret. Despite a career most actors would dream of, Ford has admitted there are things he wishes he had done differently, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

At 82, he's still going strong, starring in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain America: Brave New World, the hit Western series 1923, and the Apple TV+ comedy series Shrinking.

"I'm like old shoes," Ford joked. "I've never been hip. I think the reason I'm still here is that I was never enough in fashion that I had to be replaced by something new."

Like most actors, Ford has regrets about film roles.

He turned down the part of Bob Barnes in Syriana (2005), a role that earned George Clooney an Academy Award. Ford admitted it was one of the few career choices he regretted, saying: “I saw a bit of Syriana and I wish I played that part."

While Ford's portrayal of Deckard in Blade Runner (1982) showcased his dramatic range, it became one of his biggest regrets. The filming process was fraught with tension, particularly with director Ridley Scott. Ford clashed with Scott over the character's development and the film's tone. Adding to the frustration, Blade Runner was a box-office disappointment upon release, though it later gained cult status. Reflecting on the experience, Ford has expressed regret about the emotional toll it took on him and the missed opportunity to fully realize Deckard's potential.

The actor has also expressed regret about not playing Indiana Jones in the video game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, although he is quick to praise Troy Baker's performance.

The mega-successful series of movies in which Ford stars as the intrepid Han Solo began with 1977's Star Wars: A New Hope. Director George Lucas had originally employed Ford as a carpenter doing things around his home.

When he was auditioning actors for his upcoming movie, he asked Ford to read with them during auditions. Eventually, he came to realize his carpenter was the perfect person for the job.

Although the film became a global sensation, Ford says he began to feel limited by his iconic role and he considered Solo's character to be one-dimensional and "dumb as a stump." In fact, he asked Lucas to kill Solo.

After starring in five of the 12 films, he got his wish as Solo is killed by his son Kylo Ren, with a lightsaber.

In 1966, Ford secured a minor, uncredited role as a bellhop in the film Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, starring James Coburn. Following his walk-on, he was summoned to the office of Jerry Tokofsky, then vice president of Columbia. Unsatisfied with Ford's portrayal, he talked to Ford about his lack of star quality, stating that in a scene where a star like Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries: "You took one look at that person and you knew he was a star."

He then bluntly told Ford: "You ain't got it, kid." Ford didn't back down. He said if Curtis was truly a talented actor, "he would have delivered them like a bellhop." Tokofsky fired him.

Although he doesn't regret his success in the film industry, Ford admits he had a tough time after the amazing success of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, which rocketed him into the public eye in a way he wasn't expecting.

He said: "I was completely unprepared for the public spectacle my private life became, and I didn't like it one bit."

Since that time, the star has fiercely guarded his privacy. He and his current wife, 60-year-old Calista Flockhart, live on an 800-acre ranch in Jackson, Wy., where he's lived since the 1980s. The remote location guards much of his personal life.

Ford has been a father since he was 25 years old. He's dad to Ben, 58, and Willard, 55, with first wife Mary Marquardt, Malcolm, 35, and Georgia, 34, with second wife Melissa Mathison, and Liam, 22, who he adopted with third wife Flockhart. But he's candidly discussed how his demanding career impacted his role as a father.

"I can tell you this: If I'd been less successful, I'd probably be a better parent," he said, also admitting, "There are things we worked our way through."

Ford is a pilot who's carried out some real-life rescues of lost hikers stranded in the mountains around his ranch. The former Boy Scout's only desire is to truly help people, but he stopped doing it after one incident turned him into a famous hero, which the modest Ford wants to avoid.

"Well, one time we picked up this woman who was hypothermic on the mountain. She barfed in my cowboy hat but didn't know who I was until the next day. I stopped doing it because we would be lucky enough to find somebody and then they'd be on Good Morning America talking about 'a hero pilot.'

"It's nothing f------ like that. It's a team effort. It's lame to think about it that way."