Denver Film Festival : An Evening With Ed Harris

http://www.cinematical.com/2009/11/14/ed-harris-denver-film-festival/

It's always very strange to see actors out of costume, dropping character, and sitting in front of you for a Q&A. This is especially true of an actor like Ed Harris, who has such a distinctive voice and presence that it's pretty odd to see him begging Kleenex from the audience so he can remove the fingerprints off his latest award. The man who seems so cool and collected in front of the camera (think of A History of Violence, Nixon, Gone Baby Gone, or any film where he's been unflappably tough) admitted that he lacked social skills, and was dreading the dinner to follow because he never knows what to say.

Well, for not knowing what to say, he still managed to be a very entertaining presence for an hour. When asked when he realized he was "pretty good" at acting, he cited an Oklahoma City production of Camelot which had him playing King Arthur. He had no memory of the performance, but has overwhelming memories of the "roar of sound" that occurred at the end. "You spend your whole life trying to get back to that," he admitted. But thanks to that enthusiastic crowd, he knew he was in for the long haul, and couldn't go back. Harris joked about how unlikely his career had been, since "I think my high school said I should be a forest ranger. And that'd be fun. I don't know how you go about becoming one."

He noted that it was "kind of a trip" watching the film clips that covered his career, and seemed reluctant to delve into past characters. Unable to name a favorite (and what actor can?) he mentioned his role in Peter Weir's upcoming The Way Back as one that really stood out. As an experience and a character, it felt "very complete" and it no longer felt as if he was acting. Nor could he really come up with any roles he had regretted passing on save one: Full Metal Jacket. Stanley Kubrick had called him personally to offer him the role of Gny. Sgt. Hartman. When Harris replied "No, I don't think so," Kubrick was stunned into a "You're kidding me." But it wasn't the role (particularly in light of R. Lee Ermey's performance) so much as the chance to work with Kubrick that he now regrets.

As for the future, Harris is looking to return to the stage and perform some Shakespeare and "classical things," preferably in New York or Chicago. He hasn't pursued a lot of theater as his daughter was growing up, but now that she's sixteen, he feels his schedule is better suited to it. Apparently, being on our King Center stage was making him even hungrier to tread the boards, and it'll be exciting to see what production he winds up doing. He also hopes to return to directing, and make a film that he doesn't star in, but the problem is that to play Jackson Pollock or Appaloosa's Virgil Cole, he has to direct the film.

My clumsy recap doesn't really do much for Mr. Harris' discussion, so I apologize to anyone reading it. He's an engaging personality and there are less amusing ways to spend an hour. Oddly, the audience proved as interesting as Harris. As someone who has attended quite a few Q&A's and round tables, it's no longer as earth shattering to be in the same room as a celebrity. But my fellow Denverites were so visibly excited to be a few rows from Harris that it was pretty infectious, and the informal event really turned into something quite "fannish," as people were eagerly shouting questions from the audience. As someone used to the strict line-ups and booming microphones of ComicCon setups, it was pretty fun to watch and participate in. Unfortunately, I was sitting too high up for him to see my arm. But that's okay, as I don't think anyone there but me cared whether there would be an Appaloosa sequel.

Hopefully, the snow will allow me to go see Harris' DFF film, Touching Home, so that I can bring a review to you. The clip we were shown was a gutting one, and may be one of Harris' best performances.