Five Questions with Steven Spielberg about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

After 19 years, Steven Spielberg has finally returned to his Indiana roots, and is obviously having the time of is life. He never stopped beaming through this entire interview.

Q: Haven’t people been imploring you for years to make another Indiana Jones film?

A: Everywhere I went on a publicity junket for one of my directed films, I’d get asked the question, inevitably by a journalist, “When’s the next Indy coming out?” And they weren’t asking me the question because there was a hidden agenda or piece of news they were trying to break, they wanted to know for themselves – not even for the radio or TV station or newspaper or magazine they were representing, they wanted to know for themselves. They would always say to me, sometimes not even on camera, “Are you ever going to make another Indiana Jones picture.” That was a question that was not only asked of me, but it was asked of Harrison, and it was asked of George, and all of us had been asked that question.

Q: Why is Indiana Jones so popular?

A: Harrison was the center of this piece from the very beginning. The casting of that man to play that role was the most important thing we did. More important than my directing it, more important than all the writers who came in to write all the different episodes, more important than almost the sum of all of its parts was the fact that, in my mind, this series would not have been as successful as it was if it were not for Harrison Ford playing that role. And when I realize that, the strength of Indiana Jones is the way we fashioned this for Harrison.

Q: Was Harrison Ford up to the challenge 19 years later?

A: I think this film was more demanding on Harrison, from a physical standpoint, than the other three movies were. But because of new safety devices and harnesses that we digitally removed later on, it allowed Harrison to do some death defying stunts, but always keeping him safe. So physically, I guess if Harrison had an odometer, there would be more mileage on it after Crystal Skull than probably Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Q: Where do we find Indy this time?

A: 1957 when our film takes place is totally informed by the Cold War, by McCarthyism, by hot rods, and girls wearing ponytails and saddle shoes. This is pretty much the 50’s. The music is Elvis Presley, and it’s a whole new era. We’re no longer in the 30’s anymore, and it’s almost been a couple of decades since we last saw Indy. Indy has grown up and grown wiser and probably grown a lot stronger too.

Q: It’s almost 20 years later in this film, but how did you make it seem so familiar?

A: I really wanted The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to be a blood relative of the previous three. And therefore it’s practical sets, it’s booby traps, it’s all kinds of exotic locations, if not around the entire world, the way the first movie globe trotted, it’s a little more limited because a lot of it takes place in the US, which none of the other films really did. But certainly we go to South America and we go to Central America, we go to the East Coast where Marshall College is, and we do travel in this film.

Five Questions with George Lucas about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

As with Indy films of the past, George Lucas gets a story credit in this, the fourth installment. He discusses what it’s like to give birth to a character the size of Indiana Jones.

Q: How did you come up with the name "Indiana Jones" originally?

A: The name of Indiana came from my dog Indiana, who used to sit by my desk when I wrote the screenplays. And she was actually the original Wookie, because she would ride around in the car with me, this big, woolly thing. She’s an Alaskan Malamute, so she’s a very large dog, and she looked like a Wookie riding with me, but her name was Indiana.

Q: How did you and Steven Spielberg team up on this project in the first place?

A: We agreed a lot on movies and had the same aesthetic. But it really wasn’t until we were on the beach in Hawaii and he said he wanted to do a James Bond-like film, and I said, “Hey, I’ve got a great idea,” that it occurred to us that we might be working together. And generally, I’m not crazy about working with my friends, because it’s like with anything else, you can sort of damage your friendship that way. But Steven and I are so simpatico that it was very easy for us to work together.

Q: Of all the characters for you to bring back in the fourth installment, you picked Marian. Why?

A: Marian was one of my favorite characters in the first film. She’s very spunky, she’s very fun, she’s very able to take care of herself. She’s independent and she’s got a great sense of humor. And that’s really Karen [Allen]. To bring her back on this, to bring that lively, independent woman back and have her in the movie is a great plus for us, because she is fun to be with, she is strong, she is up to Indiana and you believe that she can put him in his place, and that they’re a team together. That’s always a really fun relationship to deal with. And Karen is just like she was – like no time has passed. Same sense of humor, same character, she completely got right back into the character, and it’s really fantastic.

Q: What’s one of your favorite things about Crystal Skull?

A: We have some really spectacular shots on this picture. I came off Star Wars, where most of the sets are digital sets. We didn’t build giant sets. We had little tiny sets with blue screen. But for this, Steven said, “No, I don’t want to do that. I want to do the real deal.” And we’ve done it.

Q: Who did you make this film for?

A: There’s a lot of anticipation on the part of the older audience. Because they loved these when they were young, and hopefully they’re going to want to take their kids to it because they are exciting, they are a lot of fun, and the experiences are one of a kind. We’re also trying to promote the film very heavily toward teenagers and young people and introduce them to it so that they can discover this whole phenomenon over again.

Five Questions with Shia LaBeouf about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

Shia Labeouf is the new kid on the block, playing Mutt Williams, a Marlon Brando-like teen who may or may not be the love child of Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood, from Raiders of the Lost Ark. LaBeouf talks about working with some of his heroes.

Q: Steven Spielberg had been coming around for some time before he cast you in this seminal role. When did you first meet him?

A: I first met Steven Spielberg when we were doing Disturbia. He had just seen my audition tape, I think, and it was the first week of filming. Then I saw him again towards the end of that shoot. Then a third time when we were doing Transformers, and a fourth time when this all began.

Q: What’s one of the greatest things about working with Steven?

A: He has a way of putting you in the middle of the fear and keeping the humor intact so that you don’t lose the tone of Indiana Jones. That’s hard to do. That’s not an easy thing to do by any means, to scare people but still have them in a humorous spirit. How do you do that? That’s the magic that he knows how to do. I mean, that’s Steven. 

Q: What kind of influence do you think he’s had on filmmaking?

A: A lot of people fell in love with movies and movie making because of Raiders. A lot of people became directors because of it. Michael Bay (whom Shia worked with on Transformers), one of the first things he said to me was, “The reason I became a director was because of Raiders.”

Q: Why do you think the whole Indiana Jones saga has such mass appeal?

A: People are always saying there’s something for everyone in it, but really, Steven’s mind works that way. He’s built that way. Steven, more than anyone I’ve ever known, understands the mass, and how to make a joke for everyone. He puts it all in there.

Q: What of your character, Mutt Williams?

A: The way Steven always explained it to me was like, “Man Boy,” where you’ve got this person who, on the outside is trying to present himself as something he’s really not. “I’m a man! Look at this knife, look at this bike! I’m a man!” But it’s never that simple. He never was a man, he never was raised by a man. He never had that father figure – he’s kind of lost.

Five Questions with Harrison Ford about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

He got older, but did he get better? Harrison Ford discusses how his character, Indiana Jones, improves with age.

Q: Where do we find Indy at the beginning of The Crystal Skull?

A: Indiana Jones is back at Marshall College teaching archeology. He still pursues archeological adventures during the time he’s not engaged in the classroom. He has this duel nature that he’s always had, part academic, part adventurer – all of that remains.

Q: What convinced you to come back for a fourth helping?

A: There was an ongoing dialogue. There was a period of maybe five or six years when nobody anticipated doing another, if I remember correctly. And then we began, each of us in our way, to think about the potential, the possibility of doing another. Having been out in the world making all kinds of other movies for myself, I was happy to do another Indiana Jones movie just because they’re so much damn fun—so much fun to do!

Q: Why do you think Steven Spielberg is such a master filmmaker?

A: Steven is very good at story – very particular about the way he constructs a story. But he adds also the element of filmmaking. He’s just a master mechanic with film, and really brings passion and energy to every frame. He’s the most attentive, particular (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) that I have ever worked for. He really is very particular about what he wants to get out of every moment, and relentless about pursuing it. I feel extremely comfortable in his hands.

Q: How did it feel to don the Indy costume after so many years?

A: I hadn’t worn the Indiana Jones costume for 18 years, and early in our production process the costume was sent to my house for me to try on, to see where we would have to change sizes, and so on and so forth, and I put it on and it fit like a glove. And I felt really comfortable and ready to go and it felt good. It felt really good.

Q: Speaking of fitting like a glove, the hat must be the perfect size because, no matter what you do, it hardly ever falls off.

A: If the hat falls off, we have to have a good reason for it. There’s got to be a joke involved or there has to be some narrative process at work there, because the hat does not fall off. If it does come off when we’re shooting we usually cut and put it back on. But I’ve learned to do a lot of things that are very physical, and keep my hat on. And it’s not by stapling it, really, but it’s a lot of work sometimes to keep the hat on.