The word “legend” gets bandied about to the point where it’s lost a bit of its meaning, but there are still some people who unquestionably fit that bill—and I, for one, consider Ed Harris legendary in the acting sphere. After working his way to star athlete in high school, the New Jersey native discovered his love for acting through local theater productions before moving to Los Angeles and graduating from the California Institute of the Arts.

His first feature film role was as “Pathology Resident #2” in Michael Crichton’s 1978 thriller Coma, but named roles were soon on the horizon. After breaking out as John Glenn in The Right Stuff five years later, Harris cemented himself as an instantly recognizable face for the next four decades.

Even a brief appearance in the opening scenes of this year’s biggest cinematic event, Top Gun: Maverick, makes a mark specifically because that’s not just anyone playing Rear Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain, that‘s Ed fucking Harris. People have a certain way they expect a Harris character to be, and the four-time Oscar nominee is able to use that to his advantage both by playing into it and by subverting expectations when he chooses. 

Search “Ed Harris” on Letterboxd reviews and you discover that there can never be enough Ed Harris, that the actor can make anything watchable. “When Ed Harris is on screen I think to myself ‘Yes’. When Ed Harris isn’t on screen I think to myself ‘No’,” writes Juhana. Important questions arise, like “Why don’t more people talk about Ed Harris?,” or a particularly troubling dilemma from Rachel, whose review of Enemy at the Gates queries, “Weirdly rooting for the Nazi villain played by Ed Harris. Why am I always wanting Ed Harris villains to succeed? The Truman Show? Westworld? Am I actually an Ed Harris stan?”

Yes, Rachel, we are all Ed Harris stans, because, as Mason insists, “the roles that Ed Harris plays can only be played by Ed Harris.” Even the most pessimistic of us can’t resist his charms, such as Todd, who states, “Kids suck. Teenagers suck. Adults suck. But Ed Harris, Ed Harris does not suck.” Perhaps it’s Ethan who best captures the feeling Harris gives us all, as his Snowpiercer review keeps it nice and simple: “Ed Harris!”

Terrence Martin talked about first meeting you at the Oscars some years back when he was a page. What’s been your impression of him and how did that initial meeting evolve into you eventually taking part in Get Away If You Can?
Ed Harris: Well, to tell you the truth, I don’t really recall that first meeting. I imagine it’s because I haven’t been to the Oscars for quite a while. But yeah, he contacted me after that, about five years ago, and asked if I would take a look at the footage they’d shot, him and Domi. I looked at it and was really impressed with the fact that they even shot it, because it was out on the open seas—off the coast of Chile, I believe.

He told me about the story and gave me the script, said he wanted me to play his father, and I was really impressed with their commitment—the fact that they had shot that footage maybe two years prior to that. They were just determined to make this film, and I knew that if I lent my name to it, it’d probably help a little bit in terms of them getting the funds to finish it. So I said, “Sure, I’ll do that.” I like TJ and I like Domi. I think they are very much in love and a really nice couple.

It’s clearly a passion project of theirs, something they’ve been pushing years to make happen. Is that drive something you found yourself relating to? I know it took you something like a decade to get your directing debut Pollock made.
Yeah, very much so. The part that I played, it’s not a part that I would normally be excited about doing, and I was very willing to do it because it helped those guys finish their dream project. And I actually had a good time filming it, we got along great. I haven’t seen the finished project yet, but I’m looking forward to watching it.

I was reading this interview where you were asked, “If you could give your younger self some advice, what would it be?” And your answer was basically to relax because you get a little bit too intense sometimes. How are you dealing with that intensity these days? Are you feeling more mellowed out?
Not as an actor, but definitely as a human being, you know what I mean? The last couple jobs I’ve had—a couple of indie films, one with Lily Rabe and this thing I just finished with Kristen Stewart—I’ve been feeling very relaxed. Just within my body as an actor, I’ve been feeling really comfortable in front of the camera—very unconscious of the camera, and really just being able to see the way I’m working with myself. I always felt that way, but I’ve been feeling even more present lately. It’s good.

You’ve said before that you don’t think you get the credit you deserve for being bald and playing parts in films meant for people with hair. Could you elaborate on that uniqueness of being a leading actor in Hollywood who’s unafraid to be bald in a world that often resists that natural evolution?
Nowadays, it’s nothing. There’s all kinds of people that are playing major roles and starring roles that don’t have any hair or have shaved their head or whatever. 30 years ago I didn’t have hair, and I haven’t had hair on top of my head for quite a long time. I don’t necessarily need any credit for that. It was a fact. If I had a full head of hair, and had a full head of hair my entire life, I’d probably be a completely different person, to tell you the truth. My career probably would have benefited, but I don’t know that possible timeline because that’s not where I’m at. [Laughs] You should see me now, man. I got hair down the middle of my back. I got these extensions for this thing I just did, it’s a lot.

[Laughs] I’m looking forward to seeing that. I read an article that described you as “the thinking woman’s sex symbol,” which I can attest to because when I told my mom I was interviewing you she shrieked like I’ve never heard her shriek before and said she had chills because you’re a huge crush of hers.
[Laughs] Wow!

So, Ed Harris, how does it feel to be the thinking woman’s sex symbol?
I think it just means that I’ve been the most sensitive guy. I’m in touch with my own feelings, and I’m pretty aware of how other people are doing and feeling. I think I’m really insightful about where other people are coming from, and if that makes me a thinking woman’s whatever then I guess yeah, I don’t know.

One film that I’d be remiss not to bring up is The Truman Show, which is one of the most popular films on Letterboxd. Your involvement with it is really interesting, in that you came on late after they had already started filming, replacing Dennis Hopper in your role, and you really made it something special. Is that one you look back on fondly now, with that same reverence so many people have for it?
I love working with Peter Weir because he’s very thorough. He has a vision and he pays attention to every little detail. When he asked me to do that, I only had a couple of days before I started filming. In a way, I was glad about this. I didn’t have a lot of time to tie myself up in knots about what I was going to try and prove. I just had to come up with an idea and work with Peter on it. And yeah, the film—I mean, talk about a pretty prescient film in terms of what’s happening today. I have fond memories of it, yeah. I didn’t really work with Jim [Carrey] one-on-one, but I got to know him a little bit. I like Jim a lot.

Similar to Get Away If You Can, that’s a film that’s very much about escape and despite its dark themes it’s turned into a big comfort film for a lot of people. Do you have any films that you return to time and time again when you’re looking for a retreat from the world?
To be perfectly honest, no I don’t. Nothing comes to mind. Well, actually, one would be Ryan’s Daughter. There’s something about that movie. It’s always enchanted me, and it’s definitely soothing to my soul, watching that movie. I think a lot of it has to do with where it was shot. It’s just so beautiful, you know?

If watching films isn’t usually the go-to comfort activity for you, what is it that you like to do that helps you escape from it all and reconnect with the beauty of the world?
I do enjoy being in nature. I enjoy manual labor. I’ve got a few acres where I live and there’s always something to do. I find that it’s very therapeutic for me to just work with my body, my hands, my legs, my head—figuring things out. It keeps you very much in the moment, and that’s helpful to me. I do have a tendency to get ahead of myself sometimes. It’s nice to just pull back and concentrate on what you’re doing at the moment.

Yeah, I’ve really been trying to push myself to be better about going and taking a walk outside for like an hour every day. Just getting away from screens.
Yeah, and if you’re out there in nature, in the woods, and you just stand still for a while, all kinds of things start happening.

It’s definitely one of those films that didn’t get the respect it deserved when it came out, but now people are starting to come back around to it and appreciate it a lot more. People didn’t quite get it at the time.
Yeah, I think the anachronisms caught people up, for one thing. The story was actually pretty big news in 1855, but the Civil War came and people forgot about this guy who went down to Nicaragua and took over the country. I think it was at the request of Cornelius Vanderbilt, if I’m not mistaken, trying to connect the two oceans together down there in Nicaragua. But yeah, it didn’t help Alex’s career.

I haven’t talked to Alex in a while. I hope he’s still making movies. I know he made a couple things after that, but really Alex could be his own worst enemy. I think he alienated a lot of people because he had a certain attitude going on, and it was offensive at times. But I love to work with people that just have a vision and a strong thing working for them. Even if part of their brains are a little bit out there, I really like that.

I read that to help get into character, you led the entire cast through a ten-mile march through the countryside.
I did, actually! And Miguel Sandoval and his wife were on that, and Miguel’s wife had been trying to get pregnant and she got pregnant soon after that. It opened up her whole body. It was hot, it was up and down on really dusty, dry hills. It was really scary. I remember that very well. Everybody was into it, they all followed me.