When making movies, the conditions the actors experience can be vastly different from what we see on screen. For example, actors might be out in the cold, wearing shorts and T-shirts, smiling through chattering teeth, or struggling not to sweat through layers of clothing when it’s hot outside. This was something Harrison Ford and Sean Connery dealt with while filming *Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade*.
Harrison Ford’s experience on the *Indiana Jones* sets was rarely smooth sailing. A well-known incident is the scene where he opts to use a gun in a whip fight, which happened because Ford was feeling unwell at the time. In *The Last Crusade*, there’s a scene that takes place on a zeppelin. While the characters are dressed in heavy fur coats because it’s supposed to be winter, the studio where they were filming was incredibly hot.
To cope with the heat, Ford and Connery came up with a funny solution: they filmed the scene without wearing any trousers! In a behind-the-scenes documentary, Connery shared, “In the zeppelin scene, all the passengers were dressed in fur coats and hats as if it were winter.” He added, “I decided to go without my trousers. Harrison said, ‘You can’t do that!’ But I explained that if I wore them, I’d be stopping all the time to wipe off the sweat. So, he ended up doing the same.” This was especially tricky for Connery, who spent most of the film in a heavy tweed three-piece suit. Meanwhile, Ford’s iconic leather jacket might look cool, but it doesn’t help much with the heat.
Interestingly, the most memorable scene in the film is probably when Ford and Connery are tied together back-to-back in the midst of a fire. You’d think that scene would make them overheat the most, yet it’s the one they tackled with full outfits. At the time of filming, Connery was only 59, just 12 years older than Ford. It’s a testament to the challenges actors face while creating those thrilling moments we love to watch!