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SEAN HARRIS
The British cult star is on a mission...
What was the big draw for The Green
Knight?
Well, I got to work with director David
Lowery. David was great to work with,
just a beautiful man. [And it was a great
cast.] Kate Dickie plays the Queen. Dev
Patel plays Gawain. Joel Edgerton, who
I worked with on The King, is in it. Alicia
Vikander. And I play King Arthur! I play
him a little bit earlier in his life.It’s interesting that The Green Knight
comes hot after The King. Do you love
period pieces?
I’ve done two classical Shakespeare-
type movies – The King and Macbeth. And
both have been directed by Australian
directors. There’s no snobbishness
coming with their decisions. They’re
just taking me on the basis of my work.If it’d been an English director and they’d
gone about it in a traditional way, I don’t
even think I’d have been on the list.What are your memories of Prometheus?
Were you desperate to sign on?
What happens is, you get called in, you
meet Ridley [Scott], then you’re offered
the part in Ridley’s new film which is
going to be the new Alien film, and at
that point you couldn’t go, “Fuck off,
I’m not interested!” It would be stupid,
and also people would think you were
pretty stupid!Was that the same for the Mission:
Impossible movies?
Someone asks you to work with Tom
Cruise, you’re not going to dismiss it!
They’re a whole different palette.
I suppose I was interested in trying to
see if I could cross over into that, but it
came with their frustrations. They’re
beasts... there’s no finished script and
it’s always changing.You made Possum straight after your
second Mission: Impossible movie.
How come?
It’s a different choice. I chose it because
it was a lead. I was very interested in
carrying a film and the big budget
movies aren’t going to ask me to do
that, so that was an opportunity to go to
work every day. It was a very lonely and
claustrophobic experience. I put my jaw
out – I had a problem with my jaw
because of the way the character holds
his mouth. I had to go see a chiropractor.
It wasn’t great!You were in two of the remarkable
K^]yKb]bg` films as corrupt cop Bob
Craven. Were you a fan of the books?
I loved it. I loved the world. I loved
the David Peace books. I loved the
atmosphere of it. Bob Craven... he’s
fascinating! The way things are at the
moment... we’re not wanting to see
males like that. It’d be interesting to
see if we’d make Red Riding now, or if
it’d get commissioned. It’s of a time.
But I loved playing that type of male.You’re famed for very intense work.
How do you get into your characters?
I spend a lot of times in pubs and cafes,
having coffee, and watching people. I
wouldn’t cut myself off – that’s my
breadline. I’m not going to pretend I’m
anything else. I’m not a movie star. I’m
an actor. And I don’t need to pretend to
be anything else. You’ve got to keep
yourself in the world. You can remove
yourself from it very easily.Do you find it hard to decompress
from your characters?
It can stay with you. It can exhaust you.
You’re not going to die from it! You want
to turn up, you want to do a good job,
you want to give yourself and be there
for your director, for the story, for your
fellow actors. I don’t want to turn up
and be shit! I want to turn up and be
remembered! JMETA | 29 MAY / THE GREEN KNIGHT IS OUT
NEXT MONTH.‘I’MNOTAMOVIESTARI’MAN
ACTORYOU’VEGOTTOKEEPYOURSELFINTHEWORLD’
A
self-described “working-class boy from Lowestoft”, Sean Harris
has done remarkably for an actor who worked his way from
Brit-flicks like 24 Hour Party People and Red Riding to blockbusters
like Prometheus and the last two Mission: Impossible movies. Now
the 54 year-old is playing King Arthur in David Lowery’s bonkers-looking
0DA¼#PAAL'LECDR. You live by the sword...LIFEINPICTURES
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geologist Fifieldin
Prometheusplaying
SolomonLanein
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KateDickieinThe
GreenKnightGAMESRADARCOM/TOTALFILM APRIL 2020 | TOTAL FILMTHE HERO
KINGOFTHECASTLE
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King Arthurinupcoming
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