‹ All people
Apollo 13
Apollo 13
Speed
The Truman Show
Internal Affairs
Toy Soldiers
Catch Me If You Can
Glengarry Glen Ross
Film credit
Ed Harris
Stats
- Episodes featuring their films
- 6
- Movies in this archive
- 8
Rewatchables episodes featuring Ed Harris’s films
Displaying all 6 episodes
Mentioned in discussions
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:15Read transcript
- Harris’s committed cigarette performance is honored — Bill Simmons
- The control-room pipes and closing cigars are appreciated — Bill Simmons
- A related made-hotter-by-smoking prompt is mentioned as an alternative under consideration — Bill Simmons
The most GIFable moment
Ed Harris’s collapse and double thumbs-up
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:24Read transcript
Todd Parker Award for Best Character Entrance
Ed Harris entering mission control
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:57Read transcript
- The film waits roughly thirty minutes before introducing Harris — Bill Simmons
- His cigarette and immediate command of the room are praised — Bill Simmons
Casting What-Ifs
Jeff Speakman, Stephen Baldwin and Richard Grieco for Jack; Halle Berry for Annie
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:29:50Read transcript
- Speakman is reported as attached during Paramount development
- Baldwin and Grieco are discussed as other Jack possibilities
- The Ellen DeGeneres story is explicitly treated as a denied urban legend
- Berry’s own regret and description of the earlier static-bus script are cited
- Other alleged Annie candidates remain uncertain
- Craig T. Nelson reportedly could not leave Coach to play Mac
- Ed Harris was considered when Harry was the villain
- McTiernan, Harlin and Tarantino reportedly declined directing
- McTiernan’s version is imagined as marginally better
- Michael Bay reportedly sought the job before his feature debut
Apex Mountain
Jim Carrey; reality-TV warning movies.
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:19:58Read transcript
- Jim Carrey is selected for the peak of his commercial and dramatic power. — Bill Simmons
- Laura Linney and Ed Harris are discussed but not selected.
- Reality-TV warning films are selected as an Apex category. — Bill Simmons
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:30:20Read transcript
- Gene Hackman reportedly partnered to adapt the novel and considered directing and playing Lecter or Crawford before withdrawing. — Bill Simmons
- Paul Verhoeven reportedly turned the film down and later expressed regret. — Bill Simmons
- Jonathan Demme reportedly wanted Sean Connery for Lecter, but Connery declined. — Bill Simmons
- Michelle Pfeiffer declined Clarice; the panel prefers Foster because Pfeiffer’s overt glamour would shift the character’s closed, professional center. — Bill Simmons
- Meg Ryan reportedly rejected the material as too gruesome, and Molly Ringwald auditioned but was considered too young. — Bill Simmons
- Ed Harris reportedly declined Jack Crawford because the role was not interesting enough. — Bill Simmons
- Reported Lecter possibilities include Daniel Day-Lewis, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Derek Jacobi, and Forest Whitaker; the panel openly doubts some unsourced casting lists while noting Whitaker publicly discussed auditioning. — Chris Ryan
Casting What-Ifs
Nick Nolte declined Peck; the extensive other-candidate list is treated skeptically.
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:23Read transcript
- Nick Nolte reportedly declined Dennis Peck for Another 48 Hrs.; Gere is considered essential despite a long and questionable list of other purported candidates.
- The untrusted candidate list includes Alec Baldwin, Tom Berenger, Jeff Bridges, Pierce Brosnan, Kevin Costner, Willem Dafoe, De Niro, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Jeff Goldblum, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Don Johnson, Tommy Lee Jones, Michael Keaton, Nolte, Pacino, Christopher Reeve, Kurt Russell and Schwarzenegger. — Chris Ryan
In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 01:06:02Read transcript
- Hoffman reportedly was originally attached as Frank with Michael Apted directing; the script had circulated since around 1987. — Chris Ryan
- Redford is a reported Frank possibility. — Chris Ryan
- Hackman is a reported Frank possibility. — Chris Ryan
- Tommy Lee Jones is a reported Frank possibility. — Chris Ryan
- Connery is a reported Frank possibility. — Chris Ryan
- De Niro reportedly was offered Mitch after Eastwood joined but was making A Bronx Tale; the discussion imagines overlap with his other sinister roles. — Bill Simmons
- Glenn Close reportedly declined Lily. — Bill Simmons
- Sharon Stone reportedly declined Lily. — Bill Simmons
- Ed Harris reportedly was considered for Mitch. — Chris Ryan
- Willem Dafoe reportedly was considered for Mitch. — Chris Ryan
- Both alternatives are thought capable, but neither would reproduce Malkovich’s particular performance. — Chris Ryan
Top Ten List
Action-villain scale against Hans Gruber (1 = worst, 10 = Gruber)
- 1 The Toy Soldiers villain (Luis Cali)
- 3 Powers Boothe, Sudden Death
- 4 Willem Dafoe, Speed 2
- 5 Dennis Hopper, Speed
- 6 John Lithgow, Cliffhanger
- 7 Tommy Lee Jones, Under Siege
- 8 Ed Harris as General Hummel, The Rock
- 9 Gary Oldman, Air Force One
- 10 Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:14:46Read transcript
- A separate revised scale puts Powers Boothe at one, the Passenger 57 villain at two and the Toy Soldiers villain at three, reversing an earlier preference between Boothe and Toy Soldiers. — Bill Simmons
- The villain scale initially puts the Toy Soldiers villain at one, criticizing his intimidation speech despite strong entrance, pivot and final-fight stages; a later utterance calls him two. — Bill Simmons
- The stated ascending scale continues with Powers Boothe in Sudden Death at three, Willem Dafoe in Speed 2 at four, Dennis Hopper in Speed at five, John Lithgow in Cliffhanger at six, Tommy Lee Jones in Under Siege at seven, Ed Harris in The Rock at eight, Gary Oldman in Air Force One at nine and Alan Rickman’s Gruber at ten. — Kyle Brandt
- An alternate opinion places Jones at nine and would rank Lithgow and Hopper higher; Toy Soldiers is again called the worst while Boothe is another participant’s least favorite. — Bill Simmons
Casting What-Ifs
Gandolfini as Carl; Depp or Hoffman as Frank; Harris and Sevigny; alternative directors
In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:56Read transcript
- James Gandolfini, reportedly once locked in as Hanratty, is preferred to Hanks; production delays and Sopranos scheduling lost the casting window. — Chris Ryan
- Fincher reportedly departed the project for Panic Room. — Bill Simmons
- Verbinski was reportedly attached with Ed Harris as the father and Chloë Sevigny as Brenda. — Bill Simmons
- Verbinski reportedly left after Gangs of New York ran long.
- Cameron Crowe reportedly considered directing; the panel imagines a different but potentially workable film.
- Gandolfini's menace, fractured vulnerability and believable exhaustion would improve Carl; regret over this lost role and The Night Of accompanies praise for Killing Them Softly, The Mexican and Crimson Tide. — Chris Ryan
- Spielberg reportedly considered Depp as Frank, with uncertainty about the report; the panel imagines a dashing performance unlike much of Depp's stranger work. — Bill Simmons
- Hoffman's brief involvement in early development is doubted as casting, though fast-talking con artistry could fit; the real Frank's reportedly older appearance is discussed with a caveat about disputed history.
In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:37:41Read transcript
- Harris’s ending is proposed, but Pacino prompts a competing claim; heightened acting is considered necessary and relative. — Chris Ryan
What’s Aged the Best?
Structure; costumes; ensemble casting; Ed Harris’s run; speech parodies; restaurant office; dialogue; atmosphere
In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 00:17:59Read transcript
- Adding the Baldwin scene gives the first act a return to the office, establishes place and power, and makes the adaptation more cinematic. — Sean Fennessey
- Mamet’s conversational power shifts are especially effective around Moss: a careless phrase reverses who attacks and who defends, and merely listening becomes alleged complicity. — Chris Ryan
- Spacey’s restrained, obstructive Williamson energy is perfectly matched to the role, especially the repeated instruction to go to lunch. — Chris Ryan
- Foley’s smoky noir atmosphere, rain, train noise and carefully arranged moving camera make the confined material cinematic. — Sean Fennessey
- Mamet strips away explanatory backstory about the daughter, Moss’s anger or Roma’s marriage and concentrates on each character’s objective. — Sean Fennessey
- The Baldwin monologue’s afterlife includes a gentle Bill Hader version in Barry and continued use in auditions, despite requiring unusual authority to deliver. — Chris Ryan
- The speech’s writing and performance helped sustain the film’s cultural life, with “always be closing” used far beyond sales. — Chris Ryan
- The night-and-day structure and jazz transition into the office give the movie a distinctive cinematic rhythm. — Chris Ryan
- Costumes chart status from Roma’s stylish Italian suits down to Levene’s hunched shirt-sleeve misery. — Chris Ryan
- Harris’s 1989–1999 run is celebrated through The Abyss, State of Grace, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Firm, The Rock and The Truman Show, with some duds acknowledged. — Chris Ryan
- Casting six leading actors of their generations is praised, with a joking “great job, Bonnie” counterpart to Great Shot Gordo. — Chris Ryan
- Baldwin’s Santa-workshop Saturday Night Live parody and Hader’s sweet Barry version keep the speech funny in new forms. — Sean Fennessey
- Working out of a restaurant is an appealing remnant of the film’s world. — Sean Fennessey
Displaying discussions 1 - 12 of 31 in total
Films in the archive
A Beautiful Mind
2001
Apollo 13
1995
Glengarry Glen Ross
1992
Gravity
2013
The Firm
1993
The Rock
1996
The Truman Show
1998
Top Gun: Maverick
2022