Jared Harris post-mortems Morbius: "I have got a mortgage to pay, you know"

Jared Harris has been on a blunt, funny verbal murder spree of late, as he makes the rounds promoting his new film Reawakening. First, Harris took absolutely zero time shooting down the idea that he might ever take on the role of Albus Dumbledore, originated on screen by his father, Richard Harris, in HBO’s efforts to turn Harry Potter into a TV show—while also condemning the TV reboot plan as a whole. (“Why do it? I don’t understand. The films were fantastic – leave them alone.”) Now, he’s applied that same “I was in Chernobyl and Mad Men, what do I have to fear at this point?” joie de vivre to one of his own roles, in 2022’s Morbius. Why did he take part in the film that brought us all the headache-inducing irony of “Morbin’ Time”? “I have got a mortgage to pay, you know.”

Harris appeared in the Jared Leto vampire superhero film in the relatively small role of Dr. Emil Nicholas, adoptive father to Morbius and his brother Milo, played by Matt Smith. (Who previously gave his own, slightly kinder, if still pretty embarrassed, assessment of the movie, saying “It is what it is.”) Harris, for his part, seems to have the confidence not to be ashamed of taking a movie strictly for a paycheck: “Sometimes you say yes to things because you need to make money.” He also does take a moment, amidst other recollections, to give a quick assessment of why the movie was such a flop on both a critical and box office level. “I have observed that those types of films do well if you have a sense of humour,” Harris says, after what the reporter for the U.K.’s i newspaper labeled a “diplomatic pause.” “You can’t treat it as though it’s Shakespeare. So yeah, that movie could have done with a more mischievous sense of humour.” (To be fair, we’ve seen what it looks like when Jared Leto attempts to tap into his ‘mischievous” side, so Harris should maybe just be grateful he never got one of his co-star’s little “gifts.”) Harris, whose other work in the realm of blockbusters (or would-be blockbusters) includes his villain role as Moriarty in the second Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movie, doesn’t seem to be all that bothered about Morbius‘s reception, though; why would he be? Mortgage still got paid.

[via Variety]