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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Did you want to get on the phone and tell the world, ''I'm back''?
KAREN ALLEN: The hardest thing for me was, when [Steven] first asked me to do the film, he asked me not to tell anyone at all. Like, not a soul. And six months went by and he still didn't want me to tell anybody. Obviously, I had to tell my son and a few close friends and colleagues, because, y'know, I was leaving for four months, and they were gonna wonder where I was!

And the news never leaked before they announced it officially at Comic-Con, in July 2007?
I think there were little tiny rumors out there, but it certainly seemed to come as a big surprise to most people.... The secrecy thing has gotten to be more and more prevalent in films, and maybe that's good. It's nice to go see a film and not know anything about it. Sometimes I feel like we know too much about films.

I understand it was Frank Darabont who initially pushed for the character of Marion to come back.
That's what Steven told me. Steven said that he was having a conversation with Frank — whom I've never met, but I guess I owe a huge debt of thanks to — and Steven said something [to Frank] about, ''Who should we think of in terms of the love interest for Indy?'' And Frank said something like, ''Are you kidding? It can't be anybody but Karen Allen playing Marion Ravenwood.'' And Steven said he took a moment and thought, Yeah, I guess you're right!

Eventually David Koepp wrote the script that got greenlit. He said he did all his work on the final drafts of Crystal Skull not knowing if you'd say yes to the role!
I thought that was kind of amazing. When I read it, I thought, They've written this for ME!

What if you'd said no?
[Laughs heartily] Oh, yeah, like anybody thought I would say no.... I would have been a complete and total fool to say no to this.

Did you ever consider returning years ago, in the second Indy movie, which eventually became Temple of Doom?
For years, people have said to me, ''Why weren't you in the other two films?'' [But] when they first asked me to do Raiders of the Lost Ark, they said, ''We're gonna do three, and they're gonna go backwards in time, so your character will be only in the first one.''

Well, but then the third film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, wound up being set in 1938 — so they only went backwards for Temple of Doom.
Really? I always thought all three of them went backwards in time! Well...if that's true, then Indy had a romance with this other character [Ilsa, played by Alison Doody] after he met back up with Marion [in Raiders]. I'm getting jealous on my character's behalf, as we speak! I always thought she was before me...

Trust me — Ilsa came after Marion.
All right. Well, I'll try not to hold that against Harrison. [Laughter]

How was it, then, reuniting with Harrison and Steven?
I think in film I've never worked with the same director twice. I've done that in the theater a number of times. And I don't think I've ever had the same leading man twice. So there's something so liberating about working with people you already have a relationship with.

NEXT PAGE: ''There's a lot of really extraordinary actresses my age, and there just aren't enough interesting roles to go around. I often very much bemoan the fact that there are so many of my peers who I never see any more in films. And I include myself in that list.''


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