Tuesday night shined a little brighter in Los Angeles as Harrison Ford made his way down the red carpet at the legendary Grauman’s Chinese Theatre where he was promoting his new CBS Films drama, Extraordinary Measures. ComingSoon.net was at the event in hopes of talking to the Hollywood icon about his latest project.
“It’s a positive humor story about somebody that overcame great obstacles in their life and made a difference in the fate of their children. It’s the kind of story that people can go to see and feel good about spending their time… something they can walk out of the theatre and remember rather than a series of car crashes and kinetic events. It’s a good positive human story and it’s an entertaining couple of hours,” Ford said.
The film is based on a true story and centers around a real family, the Crowleys, who were initially reluctant to let Hollywood tell their tale. Director Tom Vaughan told ComingSoon.net what convinced them to go ahead with the project.
“I think it was less about saying something, but rather their experience with us as filmmakers and about how much time we devoted to explaining to them about what we were doing and putting in the script. We involved them in the process and made sure we didn’t get too far ahead and making sure they were always with us. If there was a problem, we’d talk about it although we never really had any.”
John Crowley had begin to enjoy success in the corporate world as his career was taking off, when he and his wife Aileen found out their two youngest children had a terminal disease. They stopped everything to find a cure for their kids. Crowley persistently approached Dr. Robert Stonehill (Ford), a scientist who extensively researched the disease, but wasn’t originally interested in working with them. Desperate to save their kids lives, the family wouldn’t give up and Stonehill eventually decided to team up with Crowley and form a bio-tech company which focused on developing a life saving drug.
“I was looking to make a part for myself that would add to the drama of the film overall and that was the responsibility I felt towards the creation of that character,” Ford told us about Dr. Stonehill, who at times is incredibly difficult to deal with in the movie.
Keri Russell portrays Aileen Crowley in the film and said: “It was one of the best everyday hero stories that I’ve ever read or heard about. I think the thing that is most moving, especially watching it, is understanding that the individual really counts. You can actually make a difference in your life. You don’t have to just take no for an answer.”
After spending time with the family, she told us her favorite thing about them was “their humor with each other,” which is something you see a lot of in the movie.
Extraordinary Measures, co-starring Brendan Fraser as John Crowley, hits theatres on Friday, January 22.
