Jared Harris: You know who he is… right?

You’ve probably seen Jared Harris and not even know it. The son of Richard Harris, the character actor has appeared in over 60 TV shows and films, including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

From Movieline:

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.

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.