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Ed Harris

Ed Harris brings a particular kind of authority to the screen: direct, tightly controlled and often carrying more pressure than his characters care to show. Born in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1950, Harris began his career onstage before moving into film and television. His early movie work included the lead role of Billy Davis in George A. Romero’s Knightriders and a smaller part in Romero’s Creepshow. The Right Stuff gave Harris one of his defining early roles as astronaut John Glenn. It established how naturally he could play figures shaped by discipline and responsibility without reducing them to simple symbols. Places in the Heart followed, while Field of Dreams used his voice in one of the film’s most mysterious elements. In James Cameron’s The Abyss, Harris played Bud Brigman, a demanding role at the center of an intense science-fiction drama. That combination of force and restraint made Harris a natural fit for sharply drawn supporting parts. He played Dave Moss in Glengarry Glen Ross, appeared in The Firm and earned an Academy Award nomination for portraying NASA flight director Gene Kranz in Apollo 13. As General Francis Hummel in The Rock, he brought conviction and gravity to an action-movie antagonist who might otherwise have been far less interesting. Harris continued moving comfortably between large-scale productions and character-driven drama. He appeared in A Beautiful Mind and played German sniper Major Erwin König in Enemy at the Gates, then brought a stern adversarial presence to National Treasure: Book of Secrets as Mitch Wilkinson. His work has never been limited to acting. Harris made his feature directing debut with Pollock, starring as painter Jackson Pollock and receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He later co-wrote, directed and starred in the western Appaloosa. Across these films, his appeal remains consistent: Harris can command a scene without crowding it, finding the tension inside men accustomed to being listened to.