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Jared Francis Harris (born 24 August 1961) is a British actor. The son of actor Richard Harris, he went on to study drama at Duke University and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He has received various accolades including a British Academy Television Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Harris started his professional acting career in productions of the works of William Shakespeare at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in London and The Public Theater in New York. He made his film debut in a supporting role in the British comedy The Rachel Papers (1995) before portraying Andy Warhol in I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) with supporting roles in Far and Away (1992), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Natural Born Killers (1994), Dead Man (1995), and Happiness (1998). He took a recurring role as David Robert Jones in the Fox science fiction series Fringe (2008–2012).
He received critical attention for his role as Lane Pryce in the AMC period drama series Mad Men (2009–2012), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. During this time he took roles in the films The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), (2011), Lincoln (2012) and played Anderson Dawes in the Syfy science fiction series The Expanse (2015–2017) and Captain Francis Crozier in the AMC supernatural horror series The Terror (2018).
Harris portrayed George VI in the Netflix historical drama series The Crown (2016–2017) for which he was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He took a leading role playing Valery Legasov in the HBO miniseries Chernobyl (2019), for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award. His recent film roles include in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Certain Women (2016), Allied (2016), and A House of Dynamite (2025). Since 2021, he has taken the leading role of Hari Seldon in the Apple TV+ science fiction series Foundation.
Harris was educated at Ladycross School, a former preparatory boarding independent school in the coastal town of Seaford in East Sussex, as were his brothers Jamie and Damian. He says, "They were famous for discipline, with cold showers every morning", and that "You were never known by your first name there. You were either called by your number, or your last name. Since there were three of us, Damian was 'Harris Ma' for major. I was 'Harris Mi' for minor, and Jamie was 'Harris Minimus,' being the youngest and the smallest". He then attended Downside School, a Catholic boarding independent school in the village of Stratton-on-the-Fosse (near the market town of Shepton Mallet) in Somerset, in South West England. He went on to Duke University in North Carolina, United States, graduating in 1984 with a BFA in drama, then returned to England to train as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating in 1989.
Other notable roles include Andy Warhol in I Shot Andy Warhol, John Lennon in the television movie Two of Us (2000) and King Henry VIII in the 2003 BBC film adaptation of the novel The Other Boleyn Girl. Harris portrayed Dr. Charles Ashford in (2004). He portrayed the gruff Captain Anderson in the BBC2 adaptation of To the Ends of the Earth; Mac McGrath in the film Mr. Deeds; Eamon Quinn on the FX series The Riches; and David Robert Jones on Fringe.
He portrayed Ulysses S. Grant in Steven Spielberg's acclaimed historical drama film Lincoln (2012).
His portrayal of King George VI in the first series of The Crown was praised by the critic Matt Zoller Seitz, who stated that despite the series' large ensemble, "Harris still manages to communicate the character’s understated sensitivity and awareness of his circumscribed role in England’s drama so poignantly that one can’t help being moved by the performance". He received nominations for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series.
In 2019, Harris portrayed Valery Legasov in the acclaimed miniseries Chernobyl, which revolves around the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 and the cleanup efforts that followed. For that role he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. The series was produced by HBO in the United States and Sky UK in the United Kingdom.
In March 2019 Harris joined Jared Leto in Sony's Spider-Man spinoff Morbius. He plays the developer of psychohistory Hari Seldon in the Foundation television series produced for Apple TV+ which premiered in September 2021.
In 2024 he played the father of a returning missing child in the British psychological thriller film Reawakening, alongside Erin Doherty and Juliet Stevenson.
Harris married the actress Emilia Fox, the daughter of the actors Edward Fox and Joanna David, on 16 July 2005. Divorce filings were made in January 2009; the divorce was finalised in June 2010.
In April 2009 Harris met Allegra Riggio, a lighting designer and television host, at a comedy club where a mutual friend was performing. They married on 9 November 2013.
Harris resides in Los Angeles in the United States.
Career
1983–2008
Harris began his film career directing Darkmoor (1983), an unfinished feature-length film for Duke University's Freewater Films. His first film appearance as an actor was in The Rachel Papers (1989). He took minor roles in films such as the western romance Far and Away (1992), the historical epic The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and the crime drama Natural Born Killers (1994). He took the role of Benmont Tench in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man (1995). He portrayed the role of the aged Will Robinson in the 1998 movie adaptation of the television series Lost in Space. That same year he portrayed Vladimir in the controversial black comedy drama film Happiness (1998), written and directed by Todd Solondz. He portrayed Kenneth Branagh's character's doppelgänger in How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2000).
2009–2017
He gained fame for his portrayal of Lane Pryce in the AMC period drama series Mad Men from 2009 until 2012. The show focuses on the lives of Ad Men in New York City during the 1960s. He first appeared in season three where he arrives as a British newcomer to Sterling Cooper, and later becomes a partner of the new agency Roger Sterling Bert Cooper Don Draper Lane Pryce. Paul MacInnes of The Guardian wrote of Lane Pryce, "For much of his three season tenure on the show, Lane has seemed like the archetypal Englishman...He was polite, courteous, dry-witted, stingy. He was also apparently logical and keenly stoic, keeping calm and carrying on when Sterling Cooper broke up and its successor nearly went under." Harris received critical acclaim for his final appearance in the episode "Commissions and Fees" as well as a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, losing to Aaron Paul for Breaking Bad in 2012. He returned to the series to direct the 11th episode of season 7, which aired in 2015.
2018–present
He portrayed Captain Francis Crozier in the 2018 series The Terror, based on the Dan Simmons novel of the same name that provided a fictional account of the fate of Franklin's lost expedition. In November 2018, Harris was one of the first recipients of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society's Louie Kamookak Medal, awarded "for making Canada's geography better known to Canadians and to the world", for his portrayal of Captain Crozier. Harris said that he was "gratified" that the series inspired curiosity about the real expedition, remarking, "It’s sort of fitting that history will recall that it was the RCGS that first recognized The Terror, and that we as the recipients walked in the footsteps of Louie Kamookak."
Personal life
Harris married Jacqueline Goldenberg in 1989 and they divorced three years later.
Acting credits
+Key Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film
1989 The Rachel Papers Geoff 1994 Natural Born Killers London Boy Nadja Edgar 1995 Smoke Jimmy Rose Dead Man Benmont Tench Blue in the Face Jimmy Rose Tall Tale Head Thug Pug 1996 I Shot Andy Warhol Andy Warhol Gold in the Streets Owen 1997 Fathers' Day Lee Sunday Ray Chinese Box William White Lies Jacob Reese 1998 Happiness Vlad B. Monkey Alan Furnace Lost in Space Older Will Robinson Lulu on the Bridge Alvin Shine Uncredited Trance Jim 2000 Bullfighter Jones How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog False Peter Shadow Magic Raymond Wallace 2001 Perfume Michael 2002 Four Reasons Filmmaker Mr. Deeds Mac McGrath Igby Goes Down Russel Dummy Michael Foulicker 2003 Sylvia Al Alvarez I Love Your Work Yehud 2006 Lady in the Water Goatee Smoker Cashback Alex Proud Uncredited Cracked Eggs Joe Short film 2007 32A Ruth's Father 2008 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Captain Mike From Within Bernard Wilburn 2009 Tales of the Black Freighter Ridley Voice Sherlock Holmes Professor James Moriarty (Voice, uncredited) 2010 Extraordinary Measures Dr. Kent Webber The Ward Dr. Gerald Stringer 2011 Professor James Moriarty 2012 Lincoln Ulysses S. Grant 2013 Hodge Starkweather The Devil's Violinist Urbani 2014 Pompeii Severus The Quiet Ones Professor Joseph Coupland The Boxtrolls Lord Charles Portley-Rind Voice 2015 Poltergeist Carrigan Burke The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Adrian Sanders 2016 Certain Women William Fuller The Last Face Dr. John Farber Allied Frank Heslop 2019 Robert the Bruce John Comyn 2020 Angela's Christmas Wish The Vet Voice 2022 Morbius Emil Nicholas The Sea Beast Captain Crow Voice 2023 Brave the Dark Stan Deen 2024 Reawakening John 2025 A House of Dynamite Secretary of Defense Reid Baker 2026 Violent Night 2 Filming Reykjavik Mikhail Gorbachev Post-production
Television
1995 New York Undercover Seth Baines Episode: "The Highest Bidder" 2000 Two of Us John Lennon Television movie 2003 Without a Trace Father Walker 2 episodes The Other Boleyn Girl King Henry VIII Television movie 2005 To the Ends of the Earth Captain Anderson 3 episodes 2006 Coup! Simon Mann Television movie 2007 Robert Morten Episode: "Svengali" The Shadow in the North Axel Bellmann Television movie 2008 The Riches Eamon Quinn 5 episodes 2008–2012 Fringe Dr. David Robert Jones 9 episodes 2009–2012 Mad Men Lane Pryce 26 episodes; Directed episode "Time & Life" 2013 Axe Cop King of England Voice; Episode: "An American Story" 2015–2017 The Expanse Anderson Dawes 7 episodes 2016–2021 Robot Chicken James Bond Villain / Mr. Weatherbee Voice; 2 episodes 2016 The Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show Bigfoot Voice; Episode: "Sacagawea" 2016–2017 The Crown George VI Main role (Season 1); Supporting role (Season 2); 6 episodes 2018 The Terror Francis Crozier 10 episodes Animals Mr. Budmeizner Voice; Episode: "Horses" 2019 Chernobyl Valery Legasov 5 episodes Carnival Row 8 episodes 2020 New Looney Tunes Asteroid Voice; 2 episodes 2021 The Beast Must Die George Rattery Miniseries 2021–present Foundation Hari Seldon Main cast 2022 American Dad! Merlin Voice; Episode: "Hayley Was a Girl Scout?"
Theatre
1989 Hamlet Fortinbras Royal Shakespeare Theatre 1991 Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2 Henry "Hotspur" Percy The Public Theater 1992 'Tis Pity She's a Whore Soranzo The Public Theater 1995 Ecstasy Len John Houseman Theater 1996 King Lear Edmund The Public Theater 2001 More Lies About Jerzy Jerzy Kosiński Vineyard Theatre Hamlet Prince Hamlet Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey 2003 Humble Boy Felix Humble Manhattan Theatre Club 2005 Les Liaisons Dangereuses Vicomte de Valmont Playhouse Theatre, London 2006 Period of Adjustment Ralph Bates Almeida Theatre 2023 The Homecoming Max Young Vic 2025 Hamlet Claudius Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Awards and nominations
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External links
Categories: 1961 Births, Living People, 20th-century English Male Actors, 21st-century English Male Actors, Alumni Of The Royal Central School Of Speech And Drama, Audiobook Narrators, Best Actor Bafta Award Winners, British Expatriate Male Actors In The United States, Duke University Alumni, English Male Film Actors, English Male Television Actors, English Male Voice Actors, English People Of Irish Descent, English People Of Welsh Descent, People Educated At Downside School, Male Actors From London, People From Hammersmith, Robin Fox Family, Actors From The London Borough Of Hammersmith And Fulham
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