Westwood first trailer
The first 30-second teaser trailer for Westwood is released.
Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?
Tavis Smiley interview
Harris discusses Frontera, his latest film, in this interview for PBS.
Well, it is a topic very much in the news, for sure. We shot this film about a year and a half ago, I guess, in New Mexico. Michael Berry, who wrote it and directed it, grew up in southern Arizona and his co-writer, Louis. It’s a subject matter he wanted to deal with and I think he deals with it really well. I mean, it’s not a preaching kind of deal. It doesn’t really take sides. It just kinds of presents a situation that the country’s trying to deal with right now.
Frontera
0 CommentsHarris plays Roy, a rancher in a Texas border town, in this drama written and directed by Michael Berry. When an immigrant runs into trouble in the vicinity of the ranch, Roy’s wife is caught in the middle and winds up dead. The immigrant, Miguel, is arrested for murder but Roy isn’t convinced of his guilt. Co-starring Michael Pena and Eva Longoria.
The character has to start from a place of some ambiguity about how he feels about this and grow to a place. So you have to be aware of that and you have to try to create someplace, a foundation, of who this man is in as brief a time as you’ve got to see him travel somewhere, you know…
Snowpiercer
0 CommentsHarris plays Wilford, the train’s creator, in this science fiction thriller written and directed by Joon-ho Bong. In a future where the earth has become a frozen wasteland, and most of humanity is dead, the survivors live on board the Snowpiercer, a train that continually circles the globe. Co-starring Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, and Tilda Swinton. On why he joined this film:
It was really having seen director Bong’s films that made me want to work with him. I would have played any role, if he’d asked me, just because I really appreciated his work. But the fact that he wanted me to play this guy who’s talked about through the whole film, and who’s the Wizard of Oz behind a curtain, had some attraction to me.
Phantom
0 CommentsHarris plays Demi, the captain of a Russian submarine, in this historical thriller written and directed by Todd Robinson, based on the nonfiction book Red Rogue Star by Kenneth Sewell. Demi is leading his crew on a secret mission when they mutiny and the submarine goes rogue. Co-starring David Duchovny. On the event that inspired the book and movie:
There’s still a lot of mystery about exactly what happened. I don’t think they recovered enough of the log to know what transpired.
Emmy nomination
Harris is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards for portraying John McCain on Game Change.
Game Change
0 CommentsHarris plays Senator John McCain in this in this drama written for the screen by Danny Strong and directed by Jay Roach. McCain is the GOP candidate for President of the United States in the 2008 election and agrees to Sarah Palin as his running mate. The film follows the campaign up until their defeat. Co-starring Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, and Sarah Paulson.
My respect and my understanding of Senator McCain, certainly deepened. I spent a lot of time reading some of the books that he had written with Salter, particularly Faith of My Fathers, which is an autobiographical account of his time growing up, his father/grandfather being admirals in the Navy and him knowing that he was going to be going to Annapolis. He’s a complex guy with a great sense of honor and duty. I think that, by his own admission, his ambition and his ego were in constant conflict with this sense of honor, duty and patriotism. It was an interesting thing to play with in portraying him.
The Way Back
0 CommentsHarris plays Mr. Smith in this dramatic adventure co-written and directed by Peter Weir and based on a true story. Smith moves to the Soviet Union to find work and ends up imprisoned in a Siberian gulag. The film centers on his escape and journey on foot across 4,000 miles to freedom. Co-starring Colin Farrell and Jim Sturgess. On preparing for the role:
I dropped some weight before I got over there. I was doing certain physical things to get myself ready. Doing some physical labor to get some calluses. Also, doing some personal work where I was finding a real centered, quiet place. I think in this situation – you get thrust into a gulag or concentration camp – and it seems to me the only thing that’s going to keep you alive is yourself.
Empire Falls
0 CommentsHarris plays Miles Roby, manager of the Empire Grill, in this drama directed by Fred Schepisi from the novel by Richard Russo. This slice-of-life film centers on Roby and his life in the small town of Empire Falls as people come and go into his diner and life: his ex-wife, his daughter, the wealthiest man in town. Co-starring Paul Newman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt, and Robin Wright.
Well, it’s a great novel, I mean I really enjoyed it, I had read it prior to any knowledge of this film being made and then reread it of course several times. It’s just really rich and it’s about human beings trying to do their best, it’s about progress, you know, it’s not about corporate, military-industrial road-building, building cheap houses, building strip malls…that kind of progress. It’s about the progress of the human soul and it’s rich that way.
