- "I just thought we were in this for all the wrong reasons."
- ―Teddy Kumar, to Helena Shaw[src]
Teddy Kumar was a teenage friend of Helena Shaw who met when Teddy was ten and tried to rob the woman. When Helena repeatedly hitting Teddy with a car door didn't remove the boy from her life, they teamed up instead.
However, their criminal lifestyle was upended in August 1969 after Helena returned to Morocco with half of an ancient dial which brought Indiana Jones and Jürgen Voller to Tangier in pursuit of it.
Biography[]
Teddy Kumar[3] was a street-wise kid from Morocco[2] who first met Helena Shaw while attempting to rob her bag. They ended up agreeing to either both lose or both win[4] and Teddy became her sidekick, teaming up with Helena to make their own money.[1]
In 1969, Teddy took part in American archaeologist Indiana Jones and Helena's pursuit of the Antikythera, participating in a tuk-tuk chase involving the pair. He rode in the back of Shaw's tuk-tuk.[1][5]
Personality and traits[]
A sneaky clever youngster, Teddy Kumar knew about the directions of Tangier. He didn't suffer from ophidiophobia, so upon learning that the American archaeologist Indiana Jones suffered from such phobia, Teddy didn't waste an opportunity to taunt him by comparing the eels of the Aegean Sea to snakes.[1]
With a keen interest in aviation, Teddy absorbed flying lessons from pilots that visited Hotel L'Atlantique[1] and sought to be viewed as an equal and a partner in Helena Shaw's schemes despite his youthfulness.[2]
Behind the scenes[]

Teddy Kumar's character poster for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Teddy Kumar was portrayed by Ethann Isidore in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, his first credited role in an English-language production.[5] The character's last name,[3] unused in the film itself,[1] was confirmed by his Pop! figure.[3]
That Teddy is French-Moroccan but has a surname more typically associated the Indian subcontinent may be relic of older versions of the Dial of Destiny story which had originally set The Tuk-tuk Chase in India before locations changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] Director/writer James Mangold has acknowledged that casting was adjusted when they had to move the production.[4]
Mangold contacted Isidore through a Zoom call, with producer Simon Emanuel deeming Isidore beyond his years, charming and cheeky naturally, so he agreed to meet him sometime afterwards in London, England. Isidore took the chance to tell Mangold he was a fan of his 2017 film Logan (which co-starred fellow Dial of Destiny cast member Boyd Holbrook). Isidore then received a phone call that informed him he had got the part.[4] Two months prior to his casting, Isidore had nearly given up on his acting dreams, given his insecurities on if he would make it to the movies, so his casting was a dream come true.[7]
Isidore first met Harrison Ford when he and Karen Allen shot the film's final scene, recalling how everyone was so emotional that day. Excited but nervous when told it would be his first scene with Ford, Isidore shook hands with Ford, who joked he was a terrible casting for Kumar before laughing with everyone else, relaxing Isidore in the process.[7] To get into character, Isidore walked the streets of Fes, Morocco, on location to take in the environment and step into Teddy's shoes. The veteran Ford was a mentor to Isidore on set, giving him some of the best advice he received during the production,[2] like how acting is like being a child but paid for doing it. Because of the overseas filming, Isidore and his family got to feel like the titular character by traveling to Morocco, Sicily and the United Kingdom, with his mother being particularly happy for the experience and his brother attending an England school. Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge even went down to the swimming pool where Isidore and his family were while rehearshing the Aegean Sea diving scene.[7]
Isadore described his character as the equivalent of Ke Huy Quan's Short Round, whom he cited as an inspiration and would like to follow his trajectory, to Helena Shaw, thus being annoyed when the old, grumpy Indiana Jones comes to their life in a relationship like that of a stepfather with his stepson, forcing Teddy to accept that Jones is now part of his life while realistically sharing similar ideas, a dislike for orders and thinking they know everything.[7] Isidore commented on the film's production notes that, personally, he thinks Teddy has a crush on Helena Shaw, hence his initial dislike for Indy.[8] Whether that's canonical or not hasn't been confirmed by Lucasfilm Ltd. yet.
Appearances[]
Sources[]
- Pop!
“The Chance to Collaborate with My Heroes”: Director James Mangold on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org) (Pictured only)
Harrison Ford Says Goodbye to the Man With the Hat in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge Shares Harrison Ford’s Advice For Taking a Punch On Screen on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org) (Pictured only)
Flying Lessons from Harrison Ford: Ethann Isidore on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org)
Caves, Castles, and Tuna Factories: Inside the Locations of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org)
- The Making of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford
Indiana Jones Actor Ethann Isidore Talks Working with Harrison Ford on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3
Flying Lessons from Harrison Ford: Ethann Isidore on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Pop!
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Making of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Walt Disney Studios All Access - IJ DOD dtlr2 uhd r709f stills 230405.088296. Getty Images. Walt Disney Studios (2023-04-07). Archived from the original on 2023-04-07.
- ↑
Caves, Castles, and Tuna Factories: Inside the Locations of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3
Indiana Jones Actor Ethann Isidore Talks Working with Harrison Ford on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org)
- ↑ Production notes.