4-time Oscar nominee and 0-time winner, Ed Harris is the kind of actor who's often forced into supporting roles in spite of having all the talent required to earn him the lead in far more projects and he's ever been given. In often angry and intense roles, Harris can steal the show with little screen time, or perhaps more importantly serve the movie or show he's in by taking a back seat in crucial and reserved roles.
Though he's definitely not the underground/cult/character actor I would generally like to cover in this new set of lists I'm making, he is someone I feel often gets overlooked by the general public, and is fully deserving of a mention when going down the list of the greatest actors of the last 50 years.
And again, I will mention the whole opinion thing. Disagree with me all you want, I'm not claiming I'm 100% right. I'm still unsure of the exact ordering...but here's what I settled on.
| 10. | Detective Remy Bressant
in Gone Baby Gone |
In a movie like this full of top-notch performances it's hard to name a favorite of the bunch, but this passionate (in an angry sort of way) detective dedicated to finding a missing child is definitely right near the top. When I think of a typical Harris performance, this one comes to mind pretty quick, as it's a great showcase for his commanding presence, intense attitude, and ability to take a pretty standard character type and make it stand out in an effective way.
| 9. | John Glenn
in The Right Stuff |
Before Harris established himself as a tough guy actor, he took on some pretty straight-forward dramatic roles like this, as Astronaut John Glenn. There isn't a whole ton to be said for the character itself, as he's basically exactly what you might expect from an astronaut, but Harris filled the role very well, utilizing an innocent charm you don't usually see in his acting. This was just the performance the movie needed, nothing too showy, but totally believable and grounded in his humanity and heroism.
| 8. | William Parcher
in A Beautiful Mind |
Russell Crowe got plenty of awards attention for this movie, but how Harris (and Bettany, for that matter) didn't is a genuine surprise to me. A mysterious agent whose paranoid presence gives the entire film an unsettling X-Files like vibe, Harris and his bizarre government/spy storyline makes up a good portion of the most intriguing bits of the movie. And a lot of the reason for that comes down to this performance as a menacingly authoritative character played with a no-nonsense approach.
| 7. | Richard Brown
in The Hours |
With only a few short scenes, he manages to give what I consider to be the most memorable and emotional performance in the movie. Which, considering the cast of this film, is a pretty impressive accomplishment if you ask me. Here he plays a depressed, dying man and every moment he spends on screen feels crucial and powerful. It's a melancholy and revealing bit of acting from a guy who usually takes on roles that are basically just the opposite. Even after almost 10 years I still remember his scenes clearly -- none of the rest of the movie stands out to me like that.
| 6. | Carl Fogarty
in A History Of Violence |
This movie is full of small and awesome supporting performances, like Stephen McHattie and William Hurt, but the most prominent of these is Harris, who plays a sort of messenger of doom in a way. As dramatic as that sounds, his presence alone in this movie is so naturally unnerving and tense, you can't help but to feel the danger he brings into the fold when he makes his first appearance. He mostly plays it casual, which only adds to the atmosphere. A great villain for Harris, who doesn't even need to do much of anything to make him intimidating and threatening.
| 5. | Frankie Flannery
in State Of Grace |
I watched this movie almost entirely for Gary Oldman (who I was doing a sort of spotlight on at the time), but walked away equally as impressed by Harris as a very intimidating Irish gangster. He doesn't have a ton of stuff to do in his supporting role, but every scene he's in is dominated by just how damn scary he is. Harris is already a pretty intense guy, but in roles like this he seems so comfortable being a genuinely bad dude, it makes him all the more effective. His chemistry with the other characters is slightly off, but that just adds to the unnerving impact he has on everyone in the film.
| 4. | John McCain
in Game Change |
Initially apprehensive to watch this movie out of fear it would basically be a slightly more serious SNL sketch, I was shocked by the fair-minded and honest approach it seemingly took towards the subject. This reflected in Harris' performance as then-Presidential candidate John McCain, who's portrayed as a decent, honest, honorable individual with high moral standing. Harris gives him a sensitivity and decency I didn't expect and found thoroughly engaging, especially when faced with the needless hate spread by his supporters. It was the best work he'd done in years.
| 3. | Gene Kranz
in Apollo 13 |
An excellent ensemble cast with intense and powerful performances, but none stood quite so high as Harris -- something I am sure you expected me to say, but is nonetheless true. With Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton up in space, Harris may not quite have the equivalent star power with him to play off of back down in Houston (though Sinise was excellent), but manages to control the room with authority in more ways than just one. As breathtaking as the scenes on the shuttle may be, I was more interested in what Harris was up to and found the quick decision-making and desperation of his role to be equally as thrilling.
| 2. | General Francis Hummel
in The Rock |
People like to pretend Michael Bay movies never have any depth, but making that argument against the primary antagonist of this movie would just be silly. A determined high ranking military man with a genuinely good cause, Harris manages to find that perfect balance between threatening and justifiably empathetic. Refusing to back down in a fight, he may be stubborn and forcefully violent in his methods, but that doesn't mean he won't draw the line when things have finally gone too far. It's a well-written character who blurs the line between good and bad, and Harris was the perfect man for the part.
| 1. | Christof
in The Truman Show |
The artistic egomaniac behind the massive TV show/social experiment the movie itself is both named after and centered around, Ed Harris' Christof doesn't appear until halfway through the movie once we become fully aware of the nature of Truman's life and existence. Incredibly confident and brilliantly manipulative (of both Truman and the audience itself), this is a character entirely defined by his profession, but thanks to the performance never feels less than enough to fully understand the man. He never overplays the part, but finds the perfect balance as a man creating art, trying to please an audience, maintain control over his creation, and inflate his own ego. There are a lot of aspects to this performance, and he makes them all work wonderfully.
In a movie like this full of top-notch performances it's hard to name a favorite of the bunch, but this passionate (in an angry sort of way) detective dedicated to finding a missing child is definitely right near the top. When I think of a typical Harris performance, this one comes to mind pretty quick, as it's a great showcase for his commanding presence, intense attitude, and ability to take a pretty standard character type and make it stand out in an effective way.
Before Harris established himself as a tough guy actor, he took on some pretty straight-forward dramatic roles like this, as Astronaut John Glenn. There isn't a whole ton to be said for the character itself, as he's basically exactly what you might expect from an astronaut, but Harris filled the role very well, utilizing an innocent charm you don't usually see in his acting. This was just the performance the movie needed, nothing too showy, but totally believable and grounded in his humanity and heroism.
Russell Crowe got plenty of awards attention for this movie, but how Harris (and Bettany, for that matter) didn't is a genuine surprise to me. A mysterious agent whose paranoid presence gives the entire film an unsettling X-Files like vibe, Harris and his bizarre government/spy storyline makes up a good portion of the most intriguing bits of the movie. And a lot of the reason for that comes down to this performance as a menacingly authoritative character played with a no-nonsense approach.
With only a few short scenes, he manages to give what I consider to be the most memorable and emotional performance in the movie. Which, considering the cast of this film, is a pretty impressive accomplishment if you ask me. Here he plays a depressed, dying man and every moment he spends on screen feels crucial and powerful. It's a melancholy and revealing bit of acting from a guy who usually takes on roles that are basically just the opposite. Even after almost 10 years I still remember his scenes clearly -- none of the rest of the movie stands out to me like that.
This movie is full of small and awesome supporting performances, like Stephen McHattie and William Hurt, but the most prominent of these is Harris, who plays a sort of messenger of doom in a way. As dramatic as that sounds, his presence alone in this movie is so naturally unnerving and tense, you can't help but to feel the danger he brings into the fold when he makes his first appearance. He mostly plays it casual, which only adds to the atmosphere. A great villain for Harris, who doesn't even need to do much of anything to make him intimidating and threatening.
I watched this movie almost entirely for Gary Oldman (who I was doing a sort of spotlight on at the time), but walked away equally as impressed by Harris as a very intimidating Irish gangster. He doesn't have a ton of stuff to do in his supporting role, but every scene he's in is dominated by just how damn scary he is. Harris is already a pretty intense guy, but in roles like this he seems so comfortable being a genuinely bad dude, it makes him all the more effective. His chemistry with the other characters is slightly off, but that just adds to the unnerving impact he has on everyone in the film.
Initially apprehensive to watch this movie out of fear it would basically be a slightly more serious SNL sketch, I was shocked by the fair-minded and honest approach it seemingly took towards the subject. This reflected in Harris' performance as then-Presidential candidate John McCain, who's portrayed as a decent, honest, honorable individual with high moral standing. Harris gives him a sensitivity and decency I didn't expect and found thoroughly engaging, especially when faced with the needless hate spread by his supporters. It was the best work he'd done in years.
An excellent ensemble cast with intense and powerful performances, but none stood quite so high as Harris -- something I am sure you expected me to say, but is nonetheless true. With Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton up in space, Harris may not quite have the equivalent star power with him to play off of back down in Houston (though Sinise was excellent), but manages to control the room with authority in more ways than just one. As breathtaking as the scenes on the shuttle may be, I was more interested in what Harris was up to and found the quick decision-making and desperation of his role to be equally as thrilling.
People like to pretend Michael Bay movies never have any depth, but making that argument against the primary antagonist of this movie would just be silly. A determined high ranking military man with a genuinely good cause, Harris manages to find that perfect balance between threatening and justifiably empathetic. Refusing to back down in a fight, he may be stubborn and forcefully violent in his methods, but that doesn't mean he won't draw the line when things have finally gone too far. It's a well-written character who blurs the line between good and bad, and Harris was the perfect man for the part.
The artistic egomaniac behind the massive TV show/social experiment the movie itself is both named after and centered around, Ed Harris' Christof doesn't appear until halfway through the movie once we become fully aware of the nature of Truman's life and existence. Incredibly confident and brilliantly manipulative (of both Truman and the audience itself), this is a character entirely defined by his profession, but thanks to the performance never feels less than enough to fully understand the man. He never overplays the part, but finds the perfect balance as a man creating art, trying to please an audience, maintain control over his creation, and inflate his own ego. There are a lot of aspects to this performance, and he makes them all work wonderfully.
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