Harrison Ford, on third marriage, says 'old people can love too' as he shares what he's learned

Harrison Ford is reflecting on the lessons he's learned about love and relationships.

During an appearance on NPR's "Wild Card with Rachel Martin," on Thursday, Aug. 21, the 83-year-old actor spoke about love, aging and marriage.

"Old people can love, too," he said. "You know, you think about falling in love and all of that business, you think it's the business of youth or something, you know, and staying in love is the issue. Maintaining, nurturing, basically, not f------ up."

Ford agreed with Martin when she stated that marriage is something that needs to be worked on every day in order for it to be successful. He joked that he also needs "some days off for bad behavior." 

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The actor met his wife, actress Calista Flockhart, at the Golden Globe Awards in 2002, when he was 59 years old. The pair tied the knot in June 2010 in New Mexico, when Ford was 67 years old and Flockhart was 45 years old.

When asked how long he has been married, Ford replied, "If you ask me, I would say all my life." Ford added that he got married "the first time at 23 years of age," something he said "should be illegal."

He was married to his first wife, Mary Marquardt, from 1964 to 1979, and later was married to his second wife, screenwriter Melissa Mathison, from 1983 until their divorce was finalized in 2004.

Martin pointed out that remarrying proved Ford was an optimist who never gave up on love. "I'm just like everybody else," Ford responded. "I love being in love."

"Romantic love is one of the most exciting and fulfilling kinds of love, and I think there is a potential for it at any stage of your life," he told Hello! magazine in June 2003. "I was not surprised that I was able to fall in love, and I wasn't surprised that I did."

After marrying Flockhart, Ford adopted her son Liam, who she adopted in 2001. Ford told Reader's Digest in 2008 he respected her decision to adopt, saying becoming a single parent "is an awesome responsibility to take" and one that he was "happy to now have a part" to play in.

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Ford also has four other children: Benjamin, 58, and Willard, 56, with Marquardt, and Malcolm, 37, and Georgia, 35, with Mathison.

"She's brought a child back into my home," Ford told the outlet at the time. "My youngest, other than Liam, is 17. It's a wonderful opportunity to be part of a child's growing up, which is always an endless springtime. You see the blossoming and the growing and the nurturing and the payoff."

The couple have supported one another on numerous occasions, often appearing together on red carpets for movie premieres or award shows. Ford acknowledged Flockhart's support over the years when he accepted the Career Achievement Award at the Critics Choice Awards in January 2024, thanking his wife in his acceptance speech for supporting "me when I need a lot of support," adding, "And I need a lot of support."

The two hope to work together in the future, with Ford telling Us Weekly in February 2025 they just "haven't been offered something where we'd work together."

Ford received his first Emmy nomination this year, for his supporting role in the comedy series "Shrinking," in which he plays a therapist alongside Jason Segel. 

"This is the best job I've ever had," he told Us Weekly about the series. "I live half an hour away. I go home and I sleep in my own bed. I'm in the same town as my wife and children and I'm doing really smart, intelligent storytelling with incredibly talented people."

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Proximity to his home is something Ford is attracted to when picking a job, telling Martin during the interview, "it was great to be traveling the world making big a-- movies," but that he didn't find it "fulfilling" and even though he would be filming in "all these interesting places," he would go straight home once the job was over.

"What I really love is being able to work where I live, not have to go away from home and my family, friends," he explained. "I like my family. I like my house. I like to be home and I can be home and have this great job."