1983 Playboy interview Tom Selleck No regrets on missing Indiana Jones role

Playboy: Do you admit that the biggest selling factor in High Road was Tom Selleck? The picture made money, but the reviews were mixed, at best.

Selleck: Well, I think it was a good movie, but if people came to see me, that's great. I hope they keep coming, because I want to keep making movies. And I prefer calling them movies. I think we can really get full of ourselves when all of a sudden it's "careers" and "films."
Playboy: Didn't you almost become a movie star before becoming a TV star when George Lucas offered you Harrison Ford's role in Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Selleck: Yes. I was also going to do Victor/Victoria, by Blake Edwards. Both would have been exciting projects, but when there were scheduling conflicts, I chose Magnum.

Playboy: Any regrets?

Selleck: No. I can't imagine anybody doing a better job than Ford did. It's his movie, his accomplishment. It was offered to me, and I tested for it. I'd already done the pilot for Magnum, and when Lucas and Steven Spielberg offered me Raiders, CBS picked up my option for Magnum. The network tried to talk them into delaying it, but it didn't work. I have always felt a sense of accomplishment in that I tested for the part and got it.

I know it's easy for me to say now, since Magnum became such a hit. Raiders was such a successful film that had Magnum gone on the air and been canceled after four shows, I might have been depressed. Really depressed. [Another knock. "Rehearsals, Tom!" After a half hour, the interview resumes.]

Playboy: You've been called the new Gable, the new Redford, the new Newman. Is that kind of PR hard to live up to?

Selleck: If it comes from the PR people, I say, "Forget it, guys." I just laugh. If a critic says it, I think all you can be is flattered by that stuff. There isn't going to be another Gable or Redford or Newman. To be mentioned in the same sentence is real flattering. I'm a big fan of all those people. The problem with buying any of that stuff yourself is that next year, they'll be calling somebody else the new Gable. If you really buy that, you've got a long way to fall when it changes--and it will change. Actors have a lot of hills and valleys in their careers, and I see no reason that I won't have a few more valleys in the future. I don't want to fall that far.


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