Harrison Ford Says He Was ‘an Idiot for Money’ in ‘Captain America’

Harrison Ford is ready for his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut!

In a new interview with Variety published on Thursday, Aug. 1, the outlet caught up with the Golden Globe award winner, 82, at San Diego Comic-Con, where he discussed his upcoming role as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in Captain America: Brave New World — and what it took to prepare. 

“What did it take? It took not caring. It took being an idiot for money, which I’ve done before,” Ford quipped. 

The film will see the veteran actor morph from Ross, a role previously played by the late William Hurt in five earlier Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, to Red Hulk. The transformation called for motion-capture acting.

Switching tones, Ford continued: “I don’t mean to disparage it.”

“I’m just saying you have to do certain things that normally your mother would not want you to do — or your acting coach, if you had one. But it’s fun, and I enjoyed it. I had a great time, and I’m delighted at the response that we got with the trailer,” he said.

Ford being cast in the movie was initially reported in October 2022, while the film’s first trailer was released on July 12.

Speaking beside Anthony Mackie and the rest of the upcoming film’s cast — including Tim Blake Nelson, Danny Ramirez and Giancarlo Esposito — on Saturday, July 27, Ford told PEOPLE what it means to take on Hurt’s iconic role.

“He laid a very firm foundation for the character, I respect him enormously in the work that he did in his lifetime,” he said. “God bless his soul. I’m delighted to be able to stand on his shoulders and continue playing the character.”

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Hurt died in 2022 at age 71. He joined the MCU in 2008 when he stepped into the role of The Incredible Hulk. Hurt surprisingly came back to play Ross in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. He also starred in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Black Widow.

While at Comic-Con, the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny star opened up on his experience since stepping into the Marvel franchise.

“Feels good, feels officially good. I’d been watching really good actors having a really good time working in the Marvel universe and I’m delighted to now be one of them,” Ford told PEOPLE, before joking, “They’re good actors, I’m not saying I’m a great actor, I’m just saying.”

Captain America: Brave New World arrives in theaters on Feb. 14, 2025.