‘Young Indiana Jones’ Is the Buried Treasure of the Franchise: Its Star Opens Up on What Made It Great

Television archaeologists take note: you don’t need to dig deep into the medium’s origins to uncover a diamond in the rough. Treasures can be found in the recent past. And one of those treasures involves the greatest fictional archaeologist of them all, Indiana Jones.

On March 4, 1992, ABC premiered the two-hour movie pilot of “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” in its 8 p.m. slot to much fanfare. The show’s titular hero was a younger (and older) version of Harrison Ford’s blockbuster icon, who at 10, 17, and yes, 93, had his own set of primetime adventures. Since the series was the brainchild of filmmaker and franchise-builder George Lucas, outlets like USA Today, The Washington Post and The New York Times covered it extensively. Lucas wanted his “Chronicles” to do what movies couldn’t: tell one big story over 20 to 40 hours of programming. In today’s streaming landscape, that sounds perfectly conventional, yet in the era of 1990s’ network television, it was revolutionary.

Nonetheless, like so many highly anticipated shows, “Young Indiana Jones” failed to break into the cultural zeitgeist. ABC gave it a second season, out of goodwill to Lucas likely in hopes of future “Star Wars” material, yet the ratings couldn’t keep the show on the air. Over the years, the Chronicles occasionally surfaced on home video, but it’s never truly been given the due it’s deserved. Now that Disney+ has re-released the series along with the Indiana Jones feature films, viewers can watch Lucas’s grand vision of telling the history of the 20th century through the life of one man and make an assessment for themselves.

IndieWire recently spoke to the one actor who has spent more screentime in the role than even Harrison Ford: Sean Patrick Flanery, who played Indiana Jones during his formative years of 17 to 22 on the television series. Flanery relates how he nabbed the role, how the show continues to be one of the highlights of his career, and why it may have faded from the popular imagination.

The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

IndieWire: While you acted in drama productions in college, you actually had more literary ambitions when you came out to Hollywood.

Sean Patrick Flanery: I wrote a piece of children’s theater and went out to L.A. to be a writer. And then an agent suggested that I go out for some commercials. I said, yeah, if it supplements my writing career, and I got a handful of those. My first job ever was a Kellogg’s Corn Pops commercial. It was me and Paul Walker. I don’t know if that was his first job, but it was certainly mine. After that, I did a Burger King commercial and a Milk Does a Body Good commercial. Then I got an opportunity to do two little serials for the Disney Channel [“My Life as a Babysitter” and “Just Perfect” in 1990]. They were movies, but they were broken up into seven to 11-minute parts and would air once a week. So after three commercials and two serials, I got “Young Indiana Jones.”

How did the lead role for Young Indiana Jones come about?

My agent was Natalie Rosson, a wonderful new actors’ agent. She got me an audition and I went in and I read for the part. It was “Young Indiana Jones,” it was George Lucas and Amblin Entertainment, so I felt like there was no way in hell I could possibly get this role. All the pressure was off me — until after a few callbacks, I’m meeting George Lucas and I realize there’s a possibility I could get it. Then all the pressure in the world comes down on you. It was my first peek inside the door to Hollywood and see these big names who have done amazing things in their field. I felt like a tourist. It was a wonderful inauguration into that world to have my hand held by George Lucas. Still to this day, even saying it out loud kind of sounds crazy.

Can you describe the final auditions?

We shot the screen test at Raleigh Studios across from Paramount. There was wardrobe, there was makeup. Even if I wouldn’t have gotten “Young Indy,” that would have been the biggest thing I’d ever done at the time. And it was intimidating. I knew there were four of us actors trying out for the part. It was unnerving, it was flattering, it put me in a completely different space and tested me in ways that I’d never been tested before.

Who watched you for the screen test? What roles did series producers Rick McCallum and George Lucas play?

It was Carl Schultz, the director of the pilot, and it was Rick and George. Carl Schultz is one of the nicest, most gentle, kindest directors I’ve ever worked with, and, oddly enough, he was also the first of anyone big in scope name-wise. George was there, but outside of meeting him, getting to introduce myself, and chatting a little bit, it was really Carl Schultz who walked me through it, told me what he wanted. He made me feel comfortable. My experience was limited with George and Rick until we started shooting. And then you realize that Rick is doing everything. Rick assembled the entire team top to bottom. He was part of the decision-making and everything. That guy is the producer’s producer. There’s nothing on a movie set that that guy does not know.

From a logistical standpoint, “Young Indiana Jones” remains one of the most impressive productions in film and television history. Over the course of multiple years, you shot in more than 50 countries, often employing local talent and crew. Did you ever see the enormity of how this was coordinated?

I saw it every day we were getting on planes. We were loading, we were unloading. When we went and filmed in Africa, we landed in Nairobi, we took two twin Otter aircraft and did a low altitude pass over a field to get the gazelles out of the way. Then we loaded into some Land Cruisers and rode three hours to the Tana River. Then we got in canoes — they’re called “canoes,” they’re these long boats with a motorboat at the end — and boated another two hours to get to the Indian Ocean. We lived in tents with generators there. It was such an educational experience, not just in filmmaking, but in all forms of life: new cultures, traveling, being able to pick up on [anything] in a moment’s notice. It’s the whole one key theory. I traveled around the world with one suitcase and sometimes went to cold climates, sometimes went to really hot climates. It was a traveling circus times 10.

It sounds like your daily life matched your role as a young adventurer. What was it like to live and act in remote locations like the African bush?

It was crazy. When you took a shower, you would hoist up a canvas bag of water that was heated on a fire, you’d unscrew it, and would rinse off like that. I had about a month of batteries for flashlights and my Walkman to listen to music. After those ran out, it was like sensory deprivation. You couldn’t use a flashlight once the sun went down because the mosquitoes would just attack you, and the sun would go down early like six o’clock. It was a different lifestyle. So you go to bed, wake up at four in the morning, and go for a jog on the beach because you’re sleeping early and you’re rising early.

Did George Lucas join you on any of these expeditions?

He was in Prague, Wilmington, North Carolina, and Phuket, Thailand. Rick McCallum was the daily producer. He was on set every single day. He was in a production office every single day. He really ran the entire production. But those three locations are where I saw George.

The talent that Rick and George assembled, both in front of and behind the camera, is stunning. Internationally-acclaimed directors like Nicolas Roeg (“The Man Who Fell to Earth”), Terry Jones (“Monty Python”), Deepa Mehta (“Elements” trilogy), Bille August (“Pelle the Conqueror”), David Hare (Oscar-winning screenwriter of “The Hours”), Simon Wincer (“Free Willy”), among other notables, helmed many of the episodes. Did you realize who these directors were at the time?

Some I did and some I didn’t, but I educated myself pretty quickly. Like Nicolas Roeg, I’d seen a film of his but I didn’t know that it was him. Because coming up as a film lover, I never really paid attention to the name. But you’re like, “Oh, whoa, he directed that.” Terry Jones, I’d seen all the Monty Pythons. Simon Wincer, I’d seen “Crocodile Dundee.” You put two and two together, and then I’d go back and watch the stuff again. Pretty soon I realized I was out of my league.

Were these directors just taking a job or were they imprinting their voice on the series?

I didn’t feel like we had a director who didn’t really leave it all on the table. Every single director taught me so much about filmmaking, because I was brand new in the industry and I was full of questions. I wanted to know that when they talk about a key light, what is the key light? Why are we on a dolly track? Why are we starting there and ending up here? I was just curious.

Who were your biggest influences?

Nicolas Roeg taught me a lot. René Manzor, who did the Verdun episode, he shot in such a different and unique way from every other one of the directors. And interestingly to me, the one director whom I questioned internally the most, though I never vocalized it to him, was René Manzor, because he set up so many shots on my back and then would have me turn into camera on specific lines. It didn’t allow me for as much freedom, but when I saw the final product, René Manzor’s episode was my favorite to watch. Everything that he said top to bottom worked. It was a lesson in filmmaking, a lesson in trust, a lesson in turning yourself over to somebody with a vision. It was film school 101 for me.

Young Indy had quite a number of girlfriends played by actresses who would go on to have amazing Hollywood careers. What was it like to act opposite them before they broke in America?

Elizabeth Hurley was a huge star in England. Maybe people didn’t know about her in the States, but from living in England for the month prior to shooting, I certainly knew who she was. I met her, I met Hugh Grant, because they were dating at the time, and it was quite clear that they were huge. They couldn’t walk down the street in London. Catherine Zeta-Jones, same thing. They cast some major, major stars, that even if their fame had not crossed over to the U.S. yet, it was an inevitability. You could tell just from their presence, their acting prowess, how they conducted themselves. It was a wonderful experience for me too to see them operating like that. This was their 80th job and for me it really was my first.

The show featured other celebrated actors like Christopher Lee, Max von Sydow, and Vanessa Redgrave. How did you prepare yourself to work with such big names?

When you’re working with great names like that, you just shut up and you watch. You see what they do and you’re never surprised with how they ended up where they ended up because they’re good at their craft. Catherine Zeta Jones is a great actress. Elizabeth Hurley is a great actress. All of these names, I never met one and went, wow, how did they become successful in this industry? It’s a testament to the whole production that they cast A-level talent. Realistically, the only C-level dude they cast was me, and I was the lead character [laughs]. Because every name on the call sheet — Christopher Lee, Vanessa Redgrave — it’s them and then it’s some Irish dude from Texas. I look like a fish out of water.

Playing Indiana Jones, you’re stepping into the boots of Harrison Ford. How did you approach the character when the originating actor’s performance is so iconic?

I just wanted to be as believable and do as much justice to this character as is possible. It’s a character led by, in my opinion, one of the last Hollywood icon actors of our era. We have some really famous actors now, but Harrison Ford is a Montgomery Clift, a James Dean. He’s of those names and I certainly didn’t entertain any idea of doing what he did. The way the scripts were written, they didn’t force me to be a Harrison Ford, because they were all written by different writers. Although the name of the character was the same, I didn’t feel like I had to compete with what Harrison Ford had done, because that would have been devastating. I would have felt defeated before I started.

Throughout the series, you play Indy at different ages, from 17 to 22. Given the episodes were shot out of chronological sequence, how did you manage your performance?

The only way I could try to manage it was by the dates and try as much as I could to add a little maturity or detract a little maturity. I wasn’t privy to the future stories, so I didn’t know where I was going really. I just did my best with the limited information. I knew there would be something about the Battle of the Somme, but I didn’t know the extent the story would go, I didn’t know the extent of Mata Hari. You just do your best with the dates and try to whittle it a little. But I didn’t want to make too many big adjustments, not knowing where I was, where I’ve been.

The great Belgian comic actor, Ronny Coutteure, played your best friend Remy Baudouin in the series. What was your relationship with him like?

God rest his soul, he was a gentle, kind being. We had a great time on set. He was really my only constant. He would come and go, and wasn’t in every episode. He’s another example of casting major talent. Ronny was a huge actor over there, in Belgium and in France, yet nobody had ever heard of him in the States. We used to pick on each other a lot. I would have sides and he would fall asleep in his set chair and I would take pictures of him. Then he would do the same thing for me. I never saw him without a smile on his face.

You wore Indy’s famous hat throughout the series — and even got to crack the whip in an episode. Did you take any lessons on how to use it?

Vic Armstrong, who was Harrison Ford’s stunt double, and arguably one of the biggest stunt performers in the entire industry, taught me how to stunt-ride a horse and how to crack the whip. One of the neatest parts of getting “Young Indy” was going to Vic’s place and having him show me how to do it, because he did a lot of the whip cracks for Harrison. Unfortunately the whip is only in the Pancho Villa episode, but it would have been neat to carry that through more episodes.

Why did you think “Young Indiana Jones” wasn’t as popular as it might have been?

I’ve heard a lot of different viewpoints. The one that keeps coming up from a lot of different people and makes sense is that you never knew what you were getting from week to week. One day you would get a somber, horrific tale and the next week you would get a pratfall comedy. But I have to say, I would have had it no other way. To be able to do that many different styles of moviemaking, for me as an actor was unparalleled, getting to do broad comedy, subtle comedy, love stories, heavy dramas, horrific, almost documentary style war films. It was a wonderful experience for me. I’m proud as hell of the show.

“The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” is currently streaming on Disney+. Sean Patrick Flanery can be seen most recently in the feature film “Nefarious.” He’s also the author of the coming-of-age novel “Jane Two,” published by Center Street.