At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I had the honor of asking the first question at the ENDER’S GAME press junket. To explain why that’s a big deal, these junkets are usually filled with hundreds of journalists from around the world, all of them trying to ask a question (or questions), and typically only a handful of queries get answered because of time limits. This particular conference featured director Gavin Hood, producer Bob Orci, and stars Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld and Harrison Ford. I’ve interviewed Harrison before, and aside from the expected nervousness of talking to my biggest childhood hero, I can honestly say it’s difficult to get him to really open up. Since I was chosen to kick things off, I thought perhaps the most fun way to go would be to tie it back to the role that made him famous – playing Han Solo in the STAR WARS movies. To me it’s an obvious connection, in the sense that ENDER’S GAME is the first movie since the George Lucas trilogy that finds Ford in a space epic, albeit a much older and wiser type of role. Truth be told, I had not read the book by Orson Scott Card, and just going off what I had seen in the trailers I thought Harrison’s character could be viewed potentially as an older Han Solo type. His role of Colonel Graff in the movie finds him shaping and training young men to take on alien forces to protect humanity. Considering Han Solo’s leadership with the Rebel forces in the STAR WARS films, I didn’t think it was much of a stretch to imagine an older Solo could be similar in many ways to Graff… and as you’ll hear in Ford’s answer, he couldn’t disagree more. It’s always fun when a star tells you how “off” you are with your question, but in his defense the answer he gave was thorough and insightful, and I absolutely love how he protects the sanctity of playing Han while wrapping the answer up. Another highlight came when the guy sitting to my right asked the inevitable question about how the cast felt about Orson Scott Card’s well-documented anti-gay views (it happens about 9 minutes in), at which point Harrison’s response is priceless and funny, and his overall answer is nothing short of magnificent. Understand, it’s pretty nerve-wracking to be in these junkets sometimes, but I want to give big thanks to the fine folks at Summit Entertainment for including me and giving me to opportunity to kick things off. ENDER’S GAME made $28 million over the weekend, taking the top spot in the box office.
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
