Samuel L. Jackson was surprised to hear about Harrison Ford's injuries.

The 65-year-old actor was shocked by news that Harrison - who has reprised his role as Hans Solo in the sci-fi franchise - was crushed by a hydraulic door on set of the Star Wars: Episode VII last week, and insists the accident wouldn't have been his fault: "I'm sure it wasn't because he wanted to or it was something he was doing... I'm sure something went terribly awry if that happened because most times insurance companies don't like us doing those things!"

Harrison, 71, was left with a broken ankle following the incident at the Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire and is unlikely to return to the set for some time, which has disrupted the filming schedule.

Meanwhile, Samuel - who starred as Mace Windu in the franchise from 1999 to 2005 - admitted he would have been too busy to reprise his role for the upcoming film, but believes writers may have struggled to bring back his character any way after the jedi was killed off in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. When asked if would have liked to join the cast, he said, "No, not really - I thought I did and it would've been interesting but if I don't get the call, I have so many things going on that I can do and hopefully that new era of Star Wars films will be as popular as the ones that we did and the ones that were done before."