Summary

• Ed Harris proves his acting range with intense villain roles and heartfelt characters.
• Harris has a broad range of talents that included performances in over-the-top action hits and emotional dramas.
• Harris excels in historic films like Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, and Pollock, portraying real-life figures with depth.

With a career spanning almost 50 years, Ed Harris has proven himself as one of the best actors in Hollywood, as he’s excelled in countless roles across varied genres, including action, comedy, drama, and sci-fi. With a skill for playing highly menacing villains, Harris was also just as convincing in heartfelt, vulnerable roles that showcased the incredible scope of his acting range. While some viewers may recognize Harris for his acclaimed television roles, such as in Westworld, Harris was best known for his many powerful performances on the big screen.

A four-time Academy Award nominee, the fact that Harris has never won an Oscar is one of the great travesties in Hollywood, as he’s proven his skill time and time again. With roles in over-the-top action movies like The Rock, playing a sociopathic control freak in The Truman Show, or as an AIDS-suffering patient in The Hours, it’s hard to think of any other actor with a career as varied a career as him. While Harris has taken up more than 100 acting roles, one thing that united them all was intensely committed performances.

10 Stepmom (1998)

Ed Harris as Luke Harrison

At its core, the success of Stepmom rested on the two lead performances of Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, but Ed Harris proved just how good he was in a supporting role as Luke Harrison. Harris played the divorced father whose terminally ill ex-wife struggled to come to terms with accepting his new partner, who will soon become their children’s stepmother. A heartfelt tearjerker by director Chris Columbus, Stepmom may be too melodramatic for some, but when it hits, it really hits.

Stepmom explored themes of family, jealousy, and acceptance, and Harris did a great job at playing a man caught in the middle of wanting to do what’s best for both his ex-wife and his new fiancé. A funny, heartwarming, and at times deeply sad film, Stepmom may hit all the obvious beats of a standard family drama, but it does it with such effectiveness that it’s easy to forgive its faults. Stepmom was a great story about learning how to be a parent, forge friendships, and accept the hardships of life.

9 Snowpiercer (2013)

Ed Harris as Wilfred

Before directing the Best Picture-winner Parasite, director Bong Jong-ho delivered a post-apocalyptic action film called Snowpiercer that included all the same kind of social commentary Jong-ho was known for. With Ed Harris as Wilfred, the creator of the Snowpiercer train, the film depicted the last remnants of humanity who, after global warming had covered the Earth in snow, were doomed to live aboard the train to survive. However, rather than bring people closer together, this disaster divided them further, and lower-class passengers were forced to stay in the back of the train while the rich enjoyed luxury at the front.

Snowpiercer was a clever social critique that blended satirical commentary with an action-packed story as Curtis Everett (Chris Evans) led a revolution that would gradually see him make his way to the front of the train to confront Wilfred. Harris gave an exceptional performance as Wilfred, whose charisma and presence were apparent from the second he appeared on-screen. As a genius capable of building a train as advanced as the Snowpiercer, Wilfred was also a fascist dictator with all the qualities of a sociopath who revealed there was more to the rebellion than even Curtis knew.

8 The Rock (1996)

Ed Harris as General Frank Hummel

While
The Rock
was outrageously silly, it was also a deeply entertaining and stylish movie.

As the greatest movie by director Michael Bay, The Rock was a star-studded action thriller that featured Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage, along with Ed Harris as the main antagonist, General Frank Hummel. The story of a chemist and an ex-con leading a counterstrike against rogue military men, The Rock was a high-stakes thriller that had viewers on the edge of their seats as Hummel threatened a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz prison against the residents of San Francisco. While The Rock was outrageously silly, it was also a deeply entertaining and stylish movie.

Harris gave real menace to his portrayal of General Hummel, a highly decorated veteran who was now threatening violence if money was not transferred to the families of the men who died for his cause. The Rock was one of the best action movies of the 1990s and perfectly encapsulated that era of filmmaking through its serious tone and over-the-top plot that went full circle back toward pure ridiculousness. As such, The Rock was one of Harris’ most thoroughly entertaining and memorable film roles.

7 Apollo 13 (1995)

Ed Harris as Gene Kranz

After a spacecraft underwent internal damage, NASA must abort its lunar mission and find a safe way back to Earth in the tense drama Apollo 13, which was based on the real 1970 space mission that was intended to be the third moon landing. With Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton as the three endangered astronauts, Ed Harris played Flight Director Gene Kranz, who directed the team back to safety. As a masterfully told drama by director Ron Howard, Apollo 13 carefully retold the true story as it happened and was a highly realistic depiction of space travel.

Harris’s portrayal of Kranz was one of the most memorable performances in Apollo 13, as his quote “failure is not an option,” along with the famous phrase by Hanks, “Houston, we have a problem,” have become readily associated with the Apollo 13 mission. As a tense drama with thriller elements, Apollo 13 felt just as suspenseful when dealing with Harris and his team’s troubles on Earth as it did when it followed the astronauts in space. This was a testament to Harris’s skill at keeping viewers engaged even when he’s not part of the main action.

6 A History of Violence (2005)

Ed Harris as Carl Fogarty

A History of Violence was one of the very best movies by director David Cronenberg and saw Ed Harris take on the villainous role of the ruthless, scarred-faced mobster Carl Fogarty. The story of a diner owner going by the name of Tom Stall (Viggo Mortenson), A History of Violence showcased his past coming back to haunt him after he killed two robbers who threatened his family and customers. A clever, insightful, and highly stylish pontification on the nature of violence itself, A History of Violence was Cronenberg firing on all cylinders.

With the focus firmly placed on the themes and ideas that it represented, A History of Violence was less about plot and characters and more about exploring the consequences of violence for all those who encounter it. Harris played his sinister villain role to perfection as he revealed that Stall was not who he claimed to be and was actually the professional hitman Joey Cusack. A thoughtful meditation on the innate violent nature of humanity, A History of Violence stood as one of the best action movies of the 2000s.

5 The Hours (2002)

Ed Harris as Richie Brown

The Hours was a highly ambitious, multi-generational film about three women’s lives connected by Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway, set in 1923, 1951, and 2001. While the focus was primarily on the incredible performances of Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris added weight to the story as the AIDS-stricken poet and ex-lover of Clarissa Vaughan (Streep), whose difficulty in facing “the hours” that make up the rest of his life gave the film its title. A highly intense and emotional movie, Harris was central to the power and impact of The Hours.

Harris’s portrayal in The Hours was deeply affecting, as his childhood trauma and relentless anger towards his mother’s desertion of him were reflected negatively towards Clarissa, who tried to care for him in his illness. With themes of hopeless love, homosexual prejudice, and overwhelming repression, The Hours acted as a clever intertextual exploration that used Mrs. Dalloway and Woolf’s tragic legacy in a way rarely seen on screen. A clever and thoughtful film, The Hours proved the incredible range of Harris and his skill at portraying complex and troubled characters.

4 The Right Stuff (1983)

Ed Harris as John Glenn

The Right Stuff told the true story of Mercury Seven, a group of seven test pilots during the early days of the NASA space program who acted as the original astronauts. In one of his earliest performances, Ed Harris played John Glenn, the military pilot who became the first American to orbit the Earth. A highly underrated movie, The Right Stuff included a great story, incredible characterization, and thrilling flight footage, that was so impressive, that the acclaimed movie critic Gene Siskel ranked it the third-best film of the 1980s (via Siskel & Ebert), behind Shoah and Raging Bull.

While The Right Stuff flopped at the box office, taking in just $21 million against its $27 million budget (via Box Office Mojo), it received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for eight Academy Awards. Harris as Glenn was the standout performance in The Right Stuff, as its story of heroism, romance, and humor, made it a fantastic adventure film. An important depiction of the beginnings of the space program that would eventually see mankind walk on the moon, The Right Stuff lived up to its name as it delivered all the right stuff needed for a great cinematic experience.

3 The Truman Show (1998)

Ed Harris as Christof

Ed Harris gave one of his most memorable performances as Christof, the director and creator of The Truman Show, who adopted Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) as a baby and constructed his entire existence as a television show. Although much of The Truman Show was presented as a comedy, the psychological torment and horrific entertainment experiment that was Truman’s life were shockingly horrific. As the architect of Truman’s unknown prison, Christof was among the most sinister and sociopathic villains ever seen on screen.

Harris’s performance as Christof was truly impressive as he walked the fine line between showcasing his character’s deranged megalomania and his desire to protect Truman as he carefully orchestrated his life for three decades. As a satire of celebrity culture, entertainment, and reality television, The Truman Show was a high-concept triumph that acted as an early indication of Carrey’s dramatic skill. Harris was integral to the power of The Truman Show, as Christof and Truman’s climatic meeting acted as the culmination of Truman’s quest for freedom.

2 Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Ed Harris as Dave Moss

Glengarry Glen Ross was based on a 1984 play of the same name by David Mamet that depicted two days in the four lives of real estate salesmen whose jobs were in danger. With an incredible cast that featured Ed Harris, Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and Alan Arkin, Glengarry Glen Ross was the perfect example of a film where every actor contributed to the movie’s incredible power. While Glengarry Glen Ross has been remembered for Alec Balwin’s “always be closing speech,” the film was so much more than just that.

Ed Harris played the office salesman David Moss in Glengarry Glen Ross, a proactive and devious man who knew that the only way to get ahead would be to exploit the other sales staff before they exploited him. Glengarry Glen Ross featured one of the greatest ensembles ever assembled for an American film whose performances entirely lived up to its Pulitzer Prize-winning source material. A real highlight of Harris’s career, Glengarry Glen Ross proved Harris could hold his own against some of the greatest actors who ever lived.

1 Pollock (2000)

Ed Harris as Jackson Pollock

It’s a testament to Ed Harris’s incredible talent that he not only starred in but also directed Pollock, the greatest film of his entire career, where he played the American painter Jackson Pollock. An insightful exploration of the troubled life, career, and difficult marriage of Pollock, Harris was nominated for an Academy Award for his committed performance that explored Pollock’s life as an abstract expressionist painter from the 1940s to his tragic, untimely death in 1956. An unflinching look at a tortured artist, Pollock was a powerful investigation ofsch the creative process.

Ed Harris spent more than ten years developing
Pollock
.

While Pollock explored the highs and lows of the painter’s personal and professional life, it was also a fascinating look at Pollock’s development as an artist as viewers watched his style and technique change throughout. A longtime passion project for its star, Ed Harris spent more than ten years developing Pollock. With a strong script and a fantastic supporting performance by Marcia Gay Harden as Pollock’s wife, the artist Lee Krasner, Pollock was one of the best movies about real-life artists.

Sources: Siskel & Ebert, Box Office Mojo