Jared Harris Took ‘Morbius’ Role To Pay His Mortgage

Jarred Harris is sharing an honest perspective on his Marvel debut.

The Golden Globe nominee explained that he keeps a “sense of humour” about his role in Sony‘s Morbius (2022), chalking up his appearance in the maligned Spider-Verse spin-off to a paycheck during a recent interview.

“I have got a mortgage to pay, you know,” he told British outlet i News. “Sometimes you say yes to things because you need to make money.”

Harris explained, “I have observed that those types of films do well if you have a sense of humour. You can’t treat it as though it’s Shakespeare. So yeah, that movie could have done with a more mischievous sense of humour.”

The actor appeared in Morbius as Dr. Emil Nicholas, a mentor and father figure to Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto), who runs a facility for people with incurable illnesses.

Based on the Marvel comic book character, Morbius stars Leto as the titular biochemist who attempts to cure himself of a rare blood disease but accidentally infects himself with a form of vampirism. The Daniel Espinosa-directed movie also stars Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson.

Morbius was critically panned upon release, grossing $167.5 million globally.

Espinosa previously told Deadline of the experience, “To make a movie through committee, I think, is very hard, and I felt in the end that maybe a different director would have been a better fit.”

“I’m known amongst the studios to be a person with a lot of opinions, and maybe they were not looking for that kind of director,” he explained.