A classically trained stage actor and former member of London’s famed Royal Shakespeare Company, Jared Harris’ prolific career continuously showcases his ability to easily transition from one character to another, garnering him great praise and keeping him in the company of some of today's most creative talent in film, television and stage.
Harris was most recently seen in HBO’s miniseries Chernobyl, a dramatization of the nuclear power plant disaster written by Craig Mazin. Harris will next be seen the Amazon Original series Carnival Row, a fantasy-noir which takes place in a dystopian future and follows a serial killer investigation after a number of mythical creatures are found murdered throughout the city. Harris plays Absalom Breakspear, the imperious and secretive Chancellor of the Burgue, besieged by political enemies from all sides. The series also stars Cara Delevingne and Orlando Bloom, and will debut on August 30, 2019.
A classically trained stage actor and former member of London’s famed Royal Shakespeare Company, Jared Harris’ prolific career continuously showcases his ability to easily transition from one character to another, garnering him great praise and keeping him in the company of some of today's most creative talent in film, television and stage.
Harris was most recently seen in HBO’s miniseries Chernobyl, a dramatization of the nuclear power plant disaster written by Craig Mazin. Harris will next be seen the Amazon Original series Carnival Row, a fantasy-noir which takes place in a dystopian future and follows a serial killer investigation after a number of mythical creatures are found murdered throughout the city. Harris plays Absalom Breakspear, the imperious and secretive Chancellor of the Burgue, besieged by political enemies from all sides. The series also stars Cara Delevingne and Orlando Bloom, and will debut on August 30, 2019.
Harris recently wrapped production on Marvel’s Morbius for Sony with director Daniel Espinoza, which is scheduled to be released in July 2020. Harris’ extensive film career also includes Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award® nominated biopic Lincoln, in which he played the iconic Civil War hero General Ulysses S. Grant opposite Daniel Day Lewis; his portrayal of the villain Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opposite Robert Downey Jr.; his role as the outrageously tattooed Captain Mike alongside Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in David Fincher’s Academy Award nominated 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; and his embodiment of Andy Warhol in the acclaimed independent film I Shot Andy Warhol. His most recent credits are Francis Crozier, the lead in AMC’S critically acclaimed cult series The Terror, and King George VI in the first season of the Emmy nominated Netflix series The Crown. For the latter, Harris received nominations for BAFTA’s Best Supporting Actor and SAG’s Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
Harris earned his first Primetime Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role role of 1960s ad executive Lane Pryce on AMC’s groundbreaking hit series Mad Men, and won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in 2010. He also went behind the camera for the first time to direct the eleventh episode, Time and Life, in the series’s final season.
Harris has appeared with some of the most renowned theater companies in both London and New York. His first theatre job at the Royal Shakespeare Company was in Mark Rylance’s Hamlet, considered to be the defining interpretation of his generation. He was also an original cast member in RSC’s musical adaptation of A Clockwork Orange which was arranged by the legendary band U2. Harris made his American stage debut as Hotspur in the New York Shakespeare Festival's Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2. He then went on to perform with the company in both Tis Pity She's A Whore and King Lear.
Harris was born in London and is the son of Irish actor Richard Harris. He attended North Carolina's Duke University, where he majored in Drama and Literature. After graduation, he studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. When not on set, Harris divides his time between Los Angeles, New York and London.
