Jared Harris Biography: In His Own Words – Exclusive Video, News, Photos, Age

Jared Francis Harris is a famed British actor who is best known for his versatility on stage, working across numerous genres over the years. His most famous work, perhaps, may very well be his inspiring performance as Lance Pryce in the AMC television American drama series Mad Men, a role which earned Harris nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

JARED HARRIS BIOGRAPHY: AGE, EARLY LIFE, FAMILY, EDUCATION

Jared Harris was born on August 24, 1961 (Jared Harris age: 61) in Hammersmith, London. He was born the second of three sons. His father, Richard Harris, was a famous Irish actor and singer. His mother, Elizabeth Rees-Williams, was a Welsh actress. His older brother is Damian Harris and his younger brother is Jamie Harris.

Harris and his two brothers studied at Ladycross School, which was a former preparatory boarding independent school located in the coastal town of Seaford in East Sussex. He then proceeded to attend Downside School, a Catholic boarding independent school located in the village of Stratton-on-the-Fosse in Somerset, South West England. For college, Harris attended Duke University in the United States, graduating in 1984 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama. He then returned to England in order to train as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama, where he graduated in 1989.

JARED HARRIS BIOGRAPHY: CAREER

Harris started his filming career directing Darkmoor (1983), which was an unfinished feature-length film for Duke University. His first film appearance as an actor came in The Rachel Papers, which was released in 1989. His portrayal of King George VI in season one of The Crown earned him critical acclaim.

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Harris spoke about his own unique acting experience and the moment he realized he wanted to pursue it as a profession.

“Well, I mean my first I guess significant one, I went to Duke University and I auditioned. They were giving away free beer at the theater and I worked up enough nerve to go there because it wasn’t in my mind at all. I got a little bit drunk and auditioned. It was an Agatha Christie play,” Harris recalled. “And I just I enjoyed the camaraderie, I enjoyed the intensity, I enjoyed the adrenaline. I had a tiny part in it. I enjoyed the thrill of the audience and the not knowing each night. And you could really feel and smell the response from the audience, you know? It’s tactile. And you’re all in this project together and you’re all pulling. You have to all pull for each other to succeed, you know? It’s a great feeling.”

Harris also spoke about the effects acting played in his life, specifically regarding how it altered the nature of his father’s relationship for the better.

“After I graduated, I stayed behind to do a play, Entertaining Mr. Sloane,” Harris reflected. “My father had avoided coming down to see me in anything up until that point. My mother had said you should go and see him. ‘No no, he’s going to be embarrassing.’ She said, ‘he’s really good.’ ‘You would say that, you’re his mother.’ And then after I graduated, I did a play and he came down to see it and I directed the movie as well. Showed him the movie in the afternoon and he came to the theater in the evening. And he basically came down to tell me don’t think about acting. You haven’t got it. Be a director. And then five minutes into the play I remember really clearly hearing him laugh and I’m being so excited that I got him to laugh. I’m obviously nervous up to that point. And then afterward, meeting him afterward, he just had this surprise and joy on his face. He was excited and he was really thrilled, and he said, ‘god damn, you got it, you get it, you really get it.’ And our whole relationship changed because we could talk about all the theater performances. He’d act them out, Olivier’s Coriolanus, Olivier’s Titus Andronicus, loads of plays and different moments that they did and achieved and effects that they pulled off and interpretations. And so a whole new area of his life became accessible to me and his passion became accessible to me.”

JARED HARRIS BIOGRAPHY: PERSONAL LIFE

In 1989, Harris married Jacqueline Goldenberg, but they wound up getting divorced only three years later. In 2005, he married once again, this time to fellow English actor, Emilia Fox. However, the couple ended up filing for divorce four years later in 2009. That same year, Harris met Allegra Riggio, a lighting designer and television host, at a comedy club where a mutual friend of theirs had been performing. The couple got married in November 2013 and still remain together to this day. They currently reside together in Los Angeles, California.