![[Hotdog #21]](../graphics/issue21.gif)
![[Right!]](../graphics/ka_pan.jpg)
Karen: Well, it's interesting. Steven and I saw it differently. I'm
very unfamiliar with that serial type of film-with the classic damsel in
distress-and I think that quality in Marion that Steven saw rubbed me the
wrong way initially. So whenever he wanted the character to become helpless
and look to Indiana to rescue her, I would make much more active choices, and
we'd have to sort it out. I'd think, "Well, why would she just stand there?
Why wouldn't she grab something and bang somebody on the head?"
When I first saw the character it was just those scenes of her in the bar,
drinking men under the table for a living; she'd lost her father and stayed
running the bar in Nepal by herself, and my concept of her was that she was
extremely self-reliant and able to deal with difficult situations. I saw her
as a strong and resourceful person and really wanted to protect that part of
her. Steven respected that, but had this image of her as the classic damsel
in distress, just going, "Aaahhh!" I guess there are bits of both: I jump
into a basket, and get tied to a stake, but there are elements where she
really takes charge, like leaping into the plane and getting hold of the
machine gun and letting them have it.
Did the running and jumping and the screaming wear you down?
![[Dusty]](../graphics/rotl_c59.gif)
Karen: In the catacombs scenes, I spent eight or nine days by myself
having corpses and skeletons falling on me, huge amounts of dust falling into
my eyes and mouth. Before that we spent two weeks in a snake pit. At times it
was challenging to figure out what I was doing, with snakes all over the place.
It was difficult, and unsatisfying in a way.
I've done films like that since, such as The Perfect Storm, where
sometimes you spent a whole day just drinking a lot of water, fighting for
your life and screaming. But at that time [during the shooting of Raiders],
I couldn't figure out what it had to do with acting.
Did you hang out with Harrison?
Karen: We did a bit. We were all off on location and all spent a lot of
time together. I remember gathering together to watch Wimbledon in
London — It was that amazing McEnroe/Borg match, and we were all sitting
in a room and screaming and jumping up and down. But Harrison was actually
living quite a distance away — we were all in hotels, and he rented a
house somewhere, because his sons [Ben, aged 13 at the time, and Will, 11]
were visiting.
How was the monkey?
That monkey was a little trying, as I remember. He didn't bite me fortunately,
but we mostly worked with him in Tunisia, in the summer, which was extrememly
![[Monkey]](../graphics/rotl_c03.gif)
hot. And his little brain... they can't take direct sun on their heads, and
he would have a very short period where he would be out in the sun and then he
would completely go berserk (laughs), and they'd have to get him in the shade
for a while and cool him down. I was very fond of him on one level, but was so
grateful when the scenes with him were over, because you just never really knew
what he was going to do.
There's a Marion action figure on the internet going for $250
Karen: That's funny. I have a couple of those that were given to me. I
think I have a Belloq one, and one of Harrison. Is my prop the monkey? I
think it might be. It should be a little shot glass.