HARRISON Ford often referred to his Star Wars character Han Solo as “dumb” and swore he would never return to the franchise.

But 32 years after the first Star Wars release, and many interviews later, one of the world’s most recognisable movie stars is sitting at the Los Angeles Convention Center to promote the feverishly anticipated Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

“Well, I didn’t have a job,” he says with a wry grin.

One of the highest-ranking franchises in history, Star Wars films have grossed more than $US2 billion, and billions of people around the world are counting down the days to the big release.

As a father of five and grandfather of three, with kids ranging in ages from 48 to his adopted 14-year-old son Liam with third wife Calista Flockhart, how is the Ford family handling the excitement?

“Well, my kids are not that interested,” he says.

Surely the youngest is a little excited?

He laughs. “No. Not so much. He loves to watch Hercule Poirot or Sherlock more than he likes science fiction.”

It’s no secret that Ford doesn’t like doing interviews and can often come across as somewhat grumpy. At the same time he has an unmistakably dry sense of humour. When I ask if he is still flying planes, given his emergency landing on a golf course in California earlier this year, he deadpans.

“I just crash them, I don’t fly them. I just take them out in front of the hangar and drive old cars into them,” he laughs.

“Yes, I fly. I started flying as soon as I could get in my helicopter with a cast on my right leg but my toes were hanging out so I could put them over the anti-torque pedals, so I’ve been flying ever since.”

Despite the crash landing, in which he sustained a broken pelvis, ankle and other injuries, he hasn’t made any lifestyle changes. “Maybe I’m stupid but I haven’t changed anything. I still love flying and my wife still supports my choice because she knows how much it means to me,” he said.

He and Ally McBeal start Calista Flockhart met at the Golden Globes in 2002 and have been together ever since.

Has his experience flying a real plane helped him feign his pilot duties commandeering the Millennium Falcon spaceship?

“Movies is all pretending. Oscar Isaac [who plays Poe Dameron, a resistance x-wing fighter pilot] asked me, ‘How do we fly this thing? What do you think I ought to do?’ because he knew I was a pilot. And I said to him, ‘Don’t worry about it, you ought to just make sh** up because nobody knows what to do’.”

Not only does Ford play one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars pantheon, he was also at the helm of another wildly successful franchise, the Indiana Jones series. However, not everything Ford touches has turned to gold and he has a few commercial missteps on his resume including Six Days, Seven Nights and Random Hearts.

“Doing interviews for this, people are a lot more excited to see me and to know the film is coming than they were about Hollywood Homicide,” he jokes, referring of the poorly received 2003 buddy cop movie in which he starred with Josh Hartnett. A master of understatement, he adds, “It’s gratifying that people are pretty enthusiastic about this one. But I can’t be a fanboy about it. It’s where I work.”

Despite his nonplussed attitude about being front and centre of the spectacle, he adds, “I’m not cynical. I’m happy to be involved. I was happy they put my name on the dressing room and I was glad to be back. I had a fun time with Carrie (Fisher) and Mark (Hamill) as well as the new young actors, who are all terrific. It was fun.” He pauses. “It could have been silly, but it wasn’t,” he says. “It was fun.”

At 73, Ford is one of the few action heroes who can also claim senior citizen status, which might explain his hesitation at returning to this iconic role. “The character had to be consistent with the one we met years ago, and it was. He’s like a bigger tree and there are more rings in the trunk. He has had more experience, and if I’ve done my job in any way correctly, that should be apparent. He’s had experiences which have changed him and which we will reference in the telling of the story.”

With Christmas approaching, what would one of the world’s most successful movie star like to receive?

“A big box of time and not the kind you sprinkle over lamb chops,” he quips. “I’d like to travel more as well as spend more time at home, and I am missing both those things. I’d like to fly to places I haven’t flown, spend more time with my kids and grandkids, and we have to work around school and things like that. So, nothing crazy,” he smiles. “I’d like to get my closet organised.”

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens opens in Australia on December 17.