Jared Harris

He made his film debut in a supporting role in the British comedy The Rachel Papers (1989) before playing 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), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (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 played King 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), A House of Dynamite (2025) and The Brink of War (2026). Since 2021 he has taken the leading role of Hari Seldon in the Apple TV+ science fiction series Foundation.

• Birth Name — Jared Francis Harris • Born — 24 August 1961 • Birthplace — London, England • Education — * Duke University • Central School of Speech and Drama • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1983–present • Parents — * Richard Harris • Elizabeth Rees-Williams • Relatives — * Damian Harris (brother) • Jamie Harris (brother) • David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore (maternal grandfather) • Annabelle Wallis (first cousin once removed)

Jared Francis Harris was born on 24 August 1961 in Hammersmith, London, the second of three sons of the Irish actor Richard Harris (1930–2002) and his first wife, Elizabeth Rees-Williams (1936–2022), a Welsh socialite. His younger brother is the actor Jamie Harris, his older brother is the director Damian Harris and his maternal grandfather was the politician David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore. Harris was educated at Ladycross School, a former independent preparatory boarding 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, an independent Catholic boarding 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.

• Illustration — His father, the actor Richard Harris 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 played the aged Will Robinson in the 1998 movie adaptation of the television series Lost in Space. That same year he played Vladimir in the controversial black comedy drama film Happiness (1998), written and directed by Todd Solondz. He played Kenneth Branagh's character's doppelgänger in How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2000). 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 played Dr Charles Ashford in Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004). He played 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 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 Sterling Cooper Draper 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. He played 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.

He played 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." In 2019, Harris played 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.. In 2025 he played the Secretary of Defense in Kathryn Bigelow's A House of Dynamite.

Harris married Jacqueline Goldenberg in 1989 and they divorced three years later. 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 Riggios, 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.

Key • Denotes works that have not yet been released • Illustration — Jared Harris in 2014

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 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 — Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — 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 — King 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 — Absalom Breakspear — 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?"

• Year — Production — Role — Venue — Ref. • 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 • 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