You know Jared Harris. A gifted and highly malleable character actor who always adds something special to whatever he's in, the second-born of Richard Harris's three sons has appeared in over sixty film and TV projects. You've seen him get lost inside everything from Happiness's Slavic, cab-driving troubadour to the title role in I Shot Andy Warhol -- soup can for soup can, still the best depiction of the legend ever committed to film, as far as I'm concerned.
As hard as it is to believe, though, the actor still isn't quite a household name. But this could be the year when things "finally catch up" to Harris, as he puts it: He played the seafaring Captain Mike in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, relishing his key role as the man who introduces an adolescent-convolescent to the simple pleasures of whores and whiskey. (If you missed it, Button is out on DVD and Blu-Ray today.) And in another exciting development, he's just been announced as the newest addition to AMC's Mad Men. Joining the cult-worshipped show in its third season, Harris will play Lane Pryce, Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency's new financial officer.
The actor chatted with Movieline about submitting to David Fincher's perfectionism, the potential pitfalls of being a little too skilled at your craft, and the time he dragged Tom Cruise through a field of goat feces. For Harris, it's all in a day's work.
David Fincher is one of these larger-than-life Hollywood characters you hear so many stories about. What was your experience like working with him on the film?
Just once again it underlines that you should never believe anything you read in the papers, because I had an amazing time with him. He loves actors and is incredibly patient and really wants everybody to do the best work they've done in their life, and he'll do everything they can to make that possible. The example that I give is that first scene in the bar of the whorehouse, I had not just the right coins, but the exact right amount of coins to hand over to pay for the two whiskeys I bought at the beginning, you know? And that wasn't because David said specifically, it's because the prop man knew that that was what David wants.
Did the shooting days run a lot longer than a typical movie?
I loved it. I loved it! I've been doing independent movies where they barely had enough time to do one take. Whereas, yeah, you do lots of takes. In the beginning he sort of orchestrates the camera with the movement within the frame, and he makes sure that every single frame is a beautiful composition, and that probably takes eight or ten passes. Once he's satisfied with that, he starts focusing on the performances within the camera, within the frame.
Tell me about the scene in Benjamin Button when you stripped down in a crowded bar and showed off all your tattoos.
It was great! I loved that. Because the thing was, they were all over my entire body. At one point I was sitting there in my Speedos, in the makeup session, trying to figure out how many more tattoos you can get on your body. It's weird -- you don't actually feel naked when you're covered like that. You actually feel like you've got something on. I loved it. The first time I did the makeup runthrough for that, I went and met my brothers at a restaurant down in Venice in Los Angeles. And I couldn't wait to pull up my shirt and show off all my tattoos in the middle of the restaurant.
What was the experience like of watching it with an audience the first time?
It was pretty overwhelming. I was watching it with my agents, and you know, agents can be a pretty hard-bitten lot. They've got very tough skins, and I knew we were doing well when I saw him wiping away some tears. When you're dreaming about being an actor, you dream about being in movies like this, because they happen so rarely in your career, if at all. I was lucky to be in a film like this.
You've had an incredibly prolific career. Did you set out to have a career where you appear to be in so many places at once? And I know you're called a chameleon a lot -- is that something you actively sought out?
A couple years ago I went in for an audition for a film Danny DeVito was directing. And I walked in the door, and he goes, "I couldn't wait to meet you! I was so excited to watch you walk in that door, because I've seen all the stuff that you've done, and I had no idea what you were going to look like. So I was really fascinated to see who was going to walk through the wall. It's amazing, all the things that you've done." So I said, "Thank you very much." And he said, "I'm not sure if that really is a compliment." And I said, "Sorry?" And he goes, "That's a big risk, buddy." I said, "What do you mean?" He says, "Well, you gotta hope that it catches up to you." I said, "I don't know what you mean." He said, "Let me explain to you. A successful actor is a recognizable actor. You're different in everything you do. You start from scratch every single time. It's damn risky, but good luck to you. It's ballsy."
So I hear exactly what you're saying, and it's been a hindrance in that sense, in that people can't put a name to the face. But at the same time, that's what I love about acting. I love getting into the character and being unrecognizable. I think I just thought that eventually it would catch up, but it seems like it's taken quite a long time to do that.
When are we going to see a film revolve around you?
Yeah, I mean you know. Again, that happens. The way that films are financed nowadays is that they're financed on the back of your two or three famous leads, so if you're not at that level of recognition, then you're not going to be playing those parts.
Some people might not remember that you were in Far and Away. Any memories from that shoot?
I remember standing next to Tom Cruise on a hillside on the west coast of Ireland, and we were trying to figure out how to end the scene, and we decided we'd end it by using him to plow the fields -- by grabbing each of his legs and dragging him. And he goes, "That's a great idea! We'll end it like that." [He laughs.] But the whole field was covered in goat shit and donkey shit. So Tom says, "So...they're uh, going to clear out all the ... goat shit, right?" And Ron goes, "Um...I think, you know, that would take a week. We don't have the time to do that." So Tom says, "Right. Well what if they just drag me on my back, then?" He didn't really want to go face first, which I completely understand. ♦