The Owens Award, named for the longtime San Francisco benefactor of arts and charitable organizations (1936-1991), honors an actor whose work exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity. Graham Leggat talks about Ed Harris. LISTEN
Intensity, Intelligence and Integrity
By Jason Sanders
When directors mention Ed Harris, they skip the common phrases and use more meaningful language. "There's just an integrity you trust; he's always truthful and interesting," noted Ron Howard after the filming of Apollo 13 (1995). "I get the feeling that Ed is very big on dignity," stated Jonathan Demme while working with Harris on Swing Shift (1983); "I can't remember one person who wasn't floored by Ed the moment they first encountered him." Not bad praise for an ex-baseball player from Tenafly, New Jersey, a "blue-eyed All-American" (as Interview magazine wrote in 1983) whose path has been defined not by his leading-man looks, but by his intensity, intelligence and, yes, integrity.
Harris first wanted to be a professional ballplayer, but as he humbly
recalls, "I wasn't big or fast enough and couldn't hit a curve ball,
so I realized I had to think of something else to do." Seeing the
recognition an actor received during a theater performance convinced him
it was time for a change, and Harris was on his way—first to Columbia
University, then to the theater department at the University of Oklahoma
(his parent's home state), and finally CalArts. "It opened up a whole
new world to me," he recalled during a 2001 London Film Festival
interview. "I began to take what I was learning very seriously. I
did a lot of plays. I pumped gas, painted houses and did theater. It was
all I was living for."
Appearing in some 15 plays from 1976 to 1982 (including two of Sam Shepard's earliest works), Harris got his first leading roles through director George Romero, in his films Knightriders (1981) and Creepshow (1982). In 1983, he earned an Obie Award for Outstanding Actor for his performance in Shephard's Fool for Love (a role written specifically for him).
More crucial, however, was his role that year as astronaut John Glenn in Philip Kaufmann's Oscar-nominated The Right Stuff, which earned him a degree of fame unimaginable just months before. From pumping gas to appearing on the cover of Newsweek, Ed Harris's life changed radically—but not his level-headed approach to it and his craft. "I thought it was extraordinary in a way and, in another sense, kind of silly," he mentioned to film writer Judy Stone in a 1983 interview. "What I hope is that The Right Stuff is appreciated as a film. I hope people will realize I f**king well worked my balls off. That's what I care about."
The Right Stuff launched Harris on a career that's gone from strength to strength and found as much depth and power in supporting roles as in leading ones. He's as convincing as Patsy Cline's jealous husband (Sweet Dreams, 1985) as he is as a Catholic priest (The Third Miracle, 1999), 19th-century mercenary (Walker, 1987) or troubled Vietnam veteran (Jacknife, 1989). Able to carry an entire film himself, with starring performances in Victor Nuñez's A Flash of Green (1984) or his own Pollock (2000), he's just as convincing while letting others shine, as he does with Jessica Lange in Sweet Dreams or Jim Carrey in The Truman Show (1998). Even in ensemble casts, Harris has the ability to turn a supporting role into a polished, memorable gem; witness his performances in the David Mamet star-filled Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), for instance, or Stephen Daldry's The Hours (2002). Harris can channel his blue-jeaned, clean-cut Everyman appearance into such all-American roles as the astronauts of The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 or tweak it with characteristic intensity to capture the danger that lurks within such men, as in the icy psychopath of A History of Violence (2005) or the racist Texan of Alamo Bay (1985).
Harris's choice of collaborators is as focused and thoughtful as his roles. Rather than aiming for the biggest parts in the worst films, he's sought out the best roles with the best directors. Louis Malle, Jonathan Demme, Philip Kaufmann, Agniezska Holland, Peter Weir, David Mamet, David Cronenberg and more: Like Harris, these are artists defined more by craft than by commercialism. "I chose films being made by people I wanted to work with, about subject matter I thought was intriguing," he noted during the same London Film Festival interview, "partly out of my desire to work on interesting projects, with interesting people, and in part out of a certain reluctance to get myself in the limelight."
Still committed to his trade, even with more than 50 film roles and countless theater performances under his belt (last fall he debuted on the European stage in Neil LaBute's Wrecks), Harris is still just as committed to his principles. At the 1999 Academy Awards, he notoriously refused to applaud when director Elia Kazan, who had "named names" during the McCarthy era, received a Lifetime Achievement Award, and he'll never decline an invitation to speak his mind, no matter the political climate—or consequences.
Such actions may be frowned upon in Hollywood, but to Harris all that matters is his craft, his family (he's been married to actress Amy Madigan for more than 20 years) and his beliefs—and staying true to them all. And, like any consummate artist, he knows he's not done.
"I've never been a box-office person," he says. "I've been doing this for 20-plus years, and I still feel like my career—as well as my ability as an actor—is growing."
Jason Sanders is the Film Research Associate for the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, He has written for Cinema Scope, Filmmaker magazine, International Documentary and many film festivals.
Ed Harris
Selected Filmography
Copying Beethoven 2006
Winter Passing 2006
A History of Violence 2005
The Human Stain 2003
Radio 2003
The Hours 2002
A Beautiful Mind 2001
Buffalo Soldiers 2001
Enemy at the Gates 2001
Pollock 2000
Waking the Dead 2000
The Third Miracle 1999
Stepmom 1998
The Truman Show 1998
Absolute Power 1997
The Rock 1996
Apollo 13 1995
Just Cause 1995
Nixon 1995
China Moon 1994
The Firm 1993
Needful Things 1993
Glengarry Glen Ross 1992
State of Grace 1990
The Abyss 1989
Jacknife 1989
To Kill a Priest 1989
Walker 1987
Alamo Bay 1985
Sweet Dreams 1985
A Flash of Green 1984
Places in the Heart 1984
The Right Stuff 1983
Under Fire 1983
Creepshow 1982
Knightriders 1981
Previous recipients
Joan Allen 2005
Chris Cooper 2004
Dustin Hoffman 2003
Kevin Spacey 2002
Stockard Channing 2001
Winona Ryder 2000
Sean Penn 1999
Nicolas Cage 1998
Annette Bening 1997
Harvey Keitel 1996
Previously known as Piper-Heidsieck Award
Tim Roth 1995
Gérard Depardieu 1994
Danny Glover 1993
Geena Davis 1992
Anjelica Huston 1991
The Peter J. Owens Award is made possible by a grant from the Peter J.
Owens Trust at the San Francisco Foundation, Gary Shapiro and Scott Owens,
trustees.
Festival Screening: A Flash of
Green
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