Old Raiders of the Lost Ark footage shows Ford stapling the famous fedora to his forehead. He laughed it off in a GQ interview, but the real tricks for keeping it on were less painful.
Indiana Jones loses the idol, the girl and the plane. He almost never loses the hat.
Now we know one reason why, and it involves office supplies.
Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the 1981 movie Raiders of the Lost Ark shows Harrison Ford stapling Indy’s fedora to his forehead with three staples, The Independent reported. Then he says, “That should do it.”
GQ asked Ford about the clip in July 2023, while he was promoting Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. His answer was pure Indy.
“You do what you need to do,” he said, according to Insider. He brushed back his hair and added, “I still have the...” before pointing at his hairline.
Here’s the full GQ interview, posted July 10, 2023. The hat talk starts around the six-minute mark:
Did Harrison Ford really staple the hat to his head?
He sure acts like it. Ford never actually says the word “scar” in the video, though. Outlets filled that part in for him.
Some weren’t fully sold. Insider said it suspected the staple gun “could have been empty.”
HuffPost UK put it this way: “There’s always a chance that he’s just committing to the bit, 40 years later.”
How did Indiana Jones’ hat really stay on?
With less pain, mostly. Herbert Johnson, the London hatmaker behind the fedora, says Ford put “The Turn” in the hat himself. It’s an adjustment that was “thought to aid in achieving a more snug fit to prevent it falling off so readily,” according to the company’s blog.
By Temple of Doom in 1984, keeping the hat on was an “ongoing challenge,” The Associated Press reported. The fix was foam. Foam pieces “were inserted to make it fit more snugly,” the AP said.
Who made Indiana Jones’ fedora?
Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis picked a Herbert Johnson hat for Raiders. She chose the company’s “Australian” model, according to The Ringer.
“The Australian model had a wide enough brim that we could adapt it,” she told The Ringer. It was soft rabbit felt, and she ordered 10 more.
The hat’s model name is still argued about. A Herbert Johnson sales manager insisted it was the “Poet,” The Ringer said. No Film School reported the Australian was later renamed the Poet, which would make both sides right.
What did Harrison Ford think of the Indiana Jones costume?
He had questions. Lots of them.
“Why am I wearing a leather jacket in the jungle? Isn’t it hot here? Why am I carrying a whip?” Ford told GQ, according to Insider.
He was told the look was “an evocation of a time, a period. A reflection of movies past,” he said, per The Independent. “I said OK, and that makes it my own.”
How much is an Indiana Jones hat worth?
A lot more than a box of staples. A fedora Ford wore in Temple of Doom sold for $630,000 at a Propstore auction in August 2024, the AP reported. It had been estimated at $250,000 to $500,000.
One of Indy’s hats is in a museum, too. Ford presented a fedora and leather jacket to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in 1989, The Christian Science Monitor reported. His review of the hats: “They all look the same to me.”
What other injuries did Harrison Ford get playing Indiana Jones?
The staples were the easy part. Ford told GQ he hurt his ACL on Raiders when he was run over by the flying wing in Tunisia, according to Looper.
On Temple of Doom, he hurt his back, and Steven Spielberg announced on set that an “enzyme papaya treatment” had worked. Ford’s take now: “They stopped doing them about 30 years ago because they were dissolving people’s spinal columns. Mine’s intact.”
He also hurt his shoulder rehearsing a fight scene for Dial of Destiny in 2021, the AP reported.
Where can you see Indiana Jones at Disney World?
Soon, at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Disney owns Lucasfilm, and Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent is coming to the park.
Ford said at D23 in August that he’s the model for the ride’s Indy animatronic, “fear of snakes included,” SYFY Wire reported. Disney hasn’t announced an opening date.
No word yet on whether the robot’s hat is stapled on.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
GQ on YouTube (July 10, 2023), Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones interview
The Independent, Inga Parkel (July 11, 2023), the staple footage
Insider, Eve Crosbie (July 11, 2023), Ford’s quotes
HuffPost UK, Katie Rosseinsky (July 12, 2023)
Herbert Johnson (Nov. 8, 2023), “The Turn”
The Ringer, Jake Kring-Schreifels (June 11, 2020), the hat’s history
The Associated Press (Aug. 17, 2024), the $630,000 auction
Looper, Tim Lammers (July 16, 2023), Ford’s injuries
SYFY Wire, Josh Weiss (Aug. 17, 2026), the animatronic
AI Disclosure: All articles are assigned, edited and reviewed by an experienced human editor before posting. Like most modern newsrooms, WebReef Media uses a variety of AI tools to help with accuracy and efficiency. Ways AI may be used in article creation include research, grammar, fact-checking and ideation, as well as occasional AI generated or enhanced thumbnails or graphics. No articles are generated or posted without human oversight or involvement.