Actor: Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford was working as a carpenter and doing occasional bit parts when George Lucas cast him in American Graffiti and then, after auditioning other actors opposite him, as Han Solo. He was over thirty and had effectively given up.

The persona is irritation. Indiana Jones is exasperated for most of three films, Han Solo complains constantly, and Deckard is worn down before Blade Runner starts. Almost no other leading man built a career on visible reluctance.

The Fugitive, Witness and Presumed Innocent show a straighter dramatic register, and Witness earned his only Academy Award nomination.

He returned to Star Wars, Blade Runner and Indiana Jones decades later in each case, and the late performances work because the exhaustion is now real.