The American Film Institute bestows its Lifetime Achievement Award on someone it wants to honor. But Carrie Fisher has a different theory as to why the AFI picked her Star Wars costar Harrison Ford as its 28th recipient. "Probably to torture him," she said with a laugh. "He hates this stuff."
The rest of Hollywood clearly loves this stuff, and celebs turned out en masse at L.A.'s Beverly Hilton on Feb. 17 to honor the man Brad Pitt called "an icon of American cinema." Throughout the four-hour ceremony (due to air on CBS this spring), which included testimonials from Pitt, Sharon Stone, Anne Heche, Daryl Hannah—and someone or something made up as Star Wars' Chewbacca (who howled incoherently)—Ford, 57, sat by the stage between his wife, screenwriter Melissa Mathison, 49, and his mother, Dorothy. The event was part roast ("I don't understand what the big deal is," said director Mike Nichols. "He's no Tab Hunter") and part toast ("You're my hero," said an earnest Heche).
At the end the two men who made Ford a household name, directors Steven Spielberg (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and George Lucas (Star Wars), presented the star-shaped award. "You made me laugh," the actor—who, remember, hates these things—announced. "Now I'm going to get the hell out of here before you make me cry."
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