Blade Runner’s Ending Wasn’t The Only Reason Harrison Ford Hated His Voiceovers

When Scott first saw his original cut of the film, he seemed to sense its indiscernible nature. “I think it’s marvelous,” he reportedly told editor Terry Rawlings according to Vanity Fair, before asking: “But what the f*** does it mean?” This cut of the film (sans voiceovers and happy ending) was screened in Denver and Dallas to audiences who reflected Scott’s inquiry in a less enthusiastic way. After the lukewarm reactions due to confusion over the plot, a decision was made to insert all voiceovers into the movie. Although clearly a nod to the noir genre that helped inspire and inform Scott’s film, Ford found the lines in those voiceovers less than ideal, calling them “awkward and uninspired.” In an interview with Playboy in 2002, the actor elaborated further:

“I was compelled by my contract to do the narration. When I first agreed to do the film, I told Ridley there was too much information given to the audience in narration. I said, ‘Let’s take it out and put it into scenes and let the audience acquire this information in a narrative fashion, without being told it.’ And he said it was a good idea. We sat around the kitchen table and we did it. When we got done, the studio said nobody will understand this f***ing movie. We have to create a narrative.” 

In a beautiful turn of irony, once the executives actually saw a cut of “Blade Runner” with the voiceovers, they realized just how big of a mistake it was to have put them back in the movie. Vice got ahold of a transcript of notes from an early screening, which includes a description of the voiceovers as “monotone and dry.” Anyone who’s watched the theatrical cut knows that’s a pretty accurate description of Ford’s delivery (though that’s not a slight against the actor, just the writing). It’s not surprising that in the aftermath, rumors circulated that the actor had intentionally tried to undermine the lines because of his disdain for them.