Harrison Ford is back as Han Solo in The Force Awakens. The film is being touted as a return to the aesthetic of the original Star Wars trilogy, including real sets, weathered props and selective use of CGI. During an interview for TIME’s recent cover story, we asked Ford about the much-maligned Star Wars prequels, specifically the enthusiastic use of computer-generated images. Ford deftly declined to answer. Here’s what he said:
Ford: Well, we walk the line of a wholly digital green screen movie. We did not do that, there’s a great advantage to building physical sets. Both in spending and they help ensure you’re keeping it to a human scale. I think of the problems with the CGI is that you can, if you need 100 villains and you’re only a few keystrokes from having 1000, and what the hell, it’s the same price. What happens is you overwhelm the human experience with kinetics and you lose what I refer to as scale. What needs to be preserved is the emotional experience a human being can identify with.
TIME: Do you think there was some of that happening in the prequel trilogy?
Ford: I don’t. I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I wouldn’t let you ask me that.
TIME: I was taking a fly on that one.
Ford: Nice try, cowboy.
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