Steven Spielberg Says He Wanted Tom Selleck to Play Indiana Jones, Reveals One Reason the Casting Wouldn't Work

Virginia ChamleeMon, June 1, 2026 at 4:06 PM UTC

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Tom Selleck, Indiana Jones
Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty; CBS via Getty -

Steven Spielberg is opening up about why he originally wanted Tom Selleck for the role of Indiana Jones

In a new interview, the director shared of Selleck, "He came in, and he read for the part. He was good"

But Selleck ultimately had another role he had to focus on instead — and Indiana went to another actor

Steven Spielberg is recounting how Indiana Jones was almost played by a different actor: Tom Selleck.

Speaking on a recent episode of IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, the legendary director, 79, said he and George Lucas (who wrote and executive produced the Indiana Jones films and developed the character) "both discovered and decided that Tom Selleck should play Indiana Jones" in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark.

"He came in, and he read for the part. He was good," Spielberg added of Selleck. "His test was good. I loved it."

Spielberg continued: "But there's where the strings of destiny didn't cross with Tom. We wanted Tom. We gave Tom the part, and then he had, which we didn't realize, an outstanding contract with CBS network to do Magnum P.I. ... When they heard we wanted Tom, they immediately put Magnum P.I. into production, preempting Tom from being in Indiana Jones."

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Steven Spielberg
Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty

Spielberg added that Selleck taking the role would have required something on his part: that he shave off his iconic mustache.

"I wouldn't have let him have a mustache," Spielberg said, adding with a laugh: "Maybe if the films were as successful, he could have demanded the mustache."

In his memoir, You Never Know, released in 2024, the actor wrote about reading for the lead role in Raiders of the Lost Arkwhile he was waiting to hear whether his Magnum, P.I. pilot would work out.

In an earlier exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Selleck said of his decades-long career: “[Acting] is a lot about failing, endless failures. If you're going to get in the acting business, you better get an appetite for it. And I tried to communicate that... Because it was kind of a long road.”

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"When I walked into the room for the audition, it was just those two guys: Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. I didn't feel particularly nervous," he wrote.

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He continued: "I was a big Star Wars fan, so I'm certain I brought that up. On my drive home, I thought, Boy, that was pretty cool, no pressure, and having a face-to-face with two people whose work I love. And what a great diversion it was from my preoccupation with the outcome of my [Magnum] pilot."

Then Spielberg called him with the news, saying, "We want you to play Indiana Jones."

While Selleck read the script and loved it, he ultimately had to turn down the role because Magnum P.I. had been sold to CBS and was ready to start shooting. The role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark went to Harrison Ford, who, as Spielberg recounted on the IMO podcast, was also due to a twist of fate.

Around the same time they were casting for Indiana Jones, Lucas showed Spielberg a cut of his latest Star Wars film: The Empire Strikes Back.

"So I went up to Northern California, went to the screening room, sat in a room, saw Empire Strikes Back, which I adored," Spielberg recounted. "And when the screening was over, we were talking about the movie with about 30 or 40 people. And I pulled George aside, and I said, 'George, what about that guy who plays Han Solo to play Indiana Jones?' And George looked at me funny and said, 'Well, but he's Han Solo.' "

Spielberg added: " 'Yeah,' I said, 'I know, but, you know, John Wayne might have been in the same Western forever, but he played different characters.' I said, 'You know, he could do more than one role. And George said, 'Okay.' "

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”