Jared Harris
Jared Harris is a British actor known for his versatility and compelling performances across film and television. Born on August 24, 1961, in London, he is the son of acclaimed actors Richard Harris and Elizabeth Rees-Williams. Although he initially pursued a career in law, he eventually discovered his passion for acting while studying literature and drama at Duke University. Harris's career began in the late 1980s, leading to his film debut in "The Rachel Papers," and he gained recognition with roles in significant films like "I Shot Andy Warhol," where he portrayed the iconic artist.
Harris achieved notable success in television, particularly as Lane Pryce in the acclaimed series "Mad Men," earning an Emmy nomination for his performance. His role as Soviet scientist Valery Legasov in the HBO miniseries "Chernobyl" brought him further acclaim, including an Emmy nomination and an OFTA award for best actor. Over the years, Harris has tackled a variety of roles, from historical figures to complex villains, showcasing his range as an actor. His contributions to the entertainment industry have established him as a respected and talented figure in contemporary acting.
Subject Terms
Jared Harris
Actor
- Born: August 24, 1961
- Birthplace: London, England
Contribution: Jared Harris is an Emmy-nominated English actor best known for his role as Lane Pryce on the period drama series Mad Men, as well as his performances in such films as I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), and Lincoln (2012).
Background
Jared Francis Harris was born on August 24, 1961, in London, England. He and his two brothers, Damien and Jamie, are the sons of Academy Award–nominated Irish actor Richard Harris and Welsh actor Elizabeth Rees-Williams. In 1969 Rees-Williams divorced her husband and married award-winning actor Sir Rex Harrison in 1971.
Growing up, Harris did not initially want to become an actor like his famous parents. His parents thought that he would become a lawyer, as they found early on that he loved argumentation and intellectual contests. When he got older, however, he studied literature and drama at North Carolina’s Duke University. But it was at Duke in the early 1980s that Harris was forced to reconsider his thoughts on acting.
After he agreed to act in a student film production, he discovered that he enjoyed the process, and upon graduating from Duke he returned to England to formally study the profession as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, a classical acting training company.
Career
While Harris had been honing his acting skills throughout the 1980s, his brother Damien Harris had become a film director, and their two careers crossed paths in 1989, when Harris made his film debut in Damien Harris’s first feature, The Rachel Papers.
Harris then turned to the American stage for work, using his Shakespearean acting training to land roles in various Off-Broadway productions. He did this for several years before returning to film with parts in Far and Away and The Last of the Mohicans in 1992 and Natural Born Killers in 1994.
In 1995 Harris was cast in a pair of films as the mentally disabled friend of Harvey Keitel in Smoke and its sequel, Blue in the Face. After playing a supporting role in the Western fantasy Tall Tale, Harris received his first starring role as Andy Warhol in the 1996 independent biopic I Shot Andy Warhol.
Harris’s performance as Warhol was acclaimed by critics, and though he had acquired some degree of mainstream success, no additional lead roles followed for some time. Following Warhol, Harris returned to supporting roles in films such as Fathers’ Day, Sunday, and Chinese Box, all released in 1997. The next year he appeared as cruel and offbeat Russian cab driver Vlad in the comedy Happiness before landing second billing as a captivated lover of Asia Argento in B. Monkey.
In 2000 Harris starred as John Lennon in the television movie Two of Us, about the relationship of John Lennon and Paul McCartney following the breakup of the Beatles in the 1970s. Harris stayed active over the next several years with supporting roles in the 2002 films Mr. Deeds and Dummy and guest appearances on two episodes of the police procedural series Without a Trace.
The year 2003 saw Harris in slightly more high-profile roles. He first appeared as English poet Al Alvarez in the Sylvia Plath biopic Sylvia before playing Henry VIII in the BBC period film The Other Boleyn Girl, based on the Philippa Gregory novel of the same name. The next year he appeared in supporting roles in the mainstream Hollywood films Ocean’s Twelve and Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
In 2008 Harris was cast as Captain Mike, the kind mentor to Brad Pitt’s character in the award-winning film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Harris soon turned to television as a source of steady work, landing recurring roles as an Irish con man in several episodes of the 2007 drama series The Riches. In 2008 he was cast as a villainous biochemist David Robert Jones in the cult sci-fi series Fringe, appearing in the first season and reprising his antagonist role in the fourth season in 2012.
Harris followed his role on Fringe with what would be his mainstream television breakthrough when he was cast as advertising executive Lane Pryce in the third season of the hit AMC period drama Mad Men. Pryce was an English accountant sent to New York to help manage the finances of ad agency Sterling Cooper. Initially brought onto the show as a recurring character, Harris joined the main cast as a regular by the fourth season, portraying the high-strung Pryce for an additional two seasons before being written off the series in 2012. Critics praised Harris’s performances as Pryce, and in 2012 Harris was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series.
The great success that Harris enjoyed from his role on Mad Men opened the door for him to appear in mainstream Hollywood films. In 2011 he was cast as the iconic villain Professor James Moriarty opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The following year he was cast as another well-known figure, General Ulysses S. Grant, in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster historical drama Lincoln.
Harris had notable roles in several projects during the 2010s. He won a 2016 Angel Film Award for best narration for his voice performance as the narrator in the short fantasy film The Clock Maker's Dream (2015). In 2016 he was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award and a Satellite Award, both for best supporting actor, for his portrayal of King George VI on the Netflix series The Crown (2016–17). His performance as Francis Crozier on the horror anthology series The Terror (2018) earned nominations for a 2018 Online Film & Television Association (OFTA) Television Award and a 2019 Satellite Award, both for best actor. In 2019, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor for his portrayal of Soviet scientist Valery Legasov in the HBO docudrama Chernobyl, about the after effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. He also won an 2019 OFTA for best actor for his performance as Legasov.
Impact
Harris is an actor most worthy of notice for his versatility, proving adept at playing roles as historical figures, villains, and kindhearted and sympathetic characters. These qualities as an actor, in addition to his Emmy nomination, solidify Harris’s standing as a powerful acting talent.
Personal Life
Harris married fellow English actor Emilia Fox in July 2005; they divorced in 2010. In 2013 he married television personality Allegra Riggio.
Principal Works
Film
I Shot Andy Warhol, 1996
Sylvia, 2003
Ocean’s Twelve, 2004
Resident Evil: Apocalypse, 2004
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2008
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, 2011
Lincoln, 2012
The Boxtrolls, 2014
The Clockmaker's Dream, 2015
Allied, 2016
Robert the Bruce, 2019
Television
Two of Us, 2000
The Other Boleyn Girl, 2003
Fringe, 2008–9, 2012
Mad Men, 2009–12
The Expanse, 2015–2017
The Crown, 2016–17
The Terror, 2018
Chernobyl, 2019
Carnival Row, 2019
Bibliography
Dionne, Zach. “Jared Harris Joins Paul W. S. Anderson’s Pompeii.” New York. New York Media, 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 July 2013.
Gilbert, Gerard. “Mad about the Boy: Jared Harris Divulges a Few Secrets from the Set of Mad Men.” Independent. Independent.co.uk, 11 Mar. 2012. Web. 12 July 2013.
Harris, Jared. “‘Mad Men’ Q&A: Jared Harris on Lane’s Tragic Episode.” Interview by Meredith Blake. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2012. Web. 20 Aug. 2013.
Memmott, Carol. “For ‘Mad Men’ and Actor Harris, a Shocking, Quick Exit.” USA Today. Gannett, 4 June 2012. Web. 18 July 2013.
Truitt, Brian. “Moriarty Emerges from Sherlock’s ‘Shadows.’” USA Today 15 Dec. 2011: 1d. Print.