Jared Harris Acted in ‘Morbius’ Flop Because ‘I’ve Got a Mortgage to Pay’ and ‘Sometimes You Say Yes to Things Because You Need to Make Money’

Jared Harris‘ esteemed acting career includes Emmy-nominated performances in “Mad Men” and “The Crown,” plus roles in movies such as David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” all of which makes his supporting role in Jared Leto’s infamous comic book flop “Morbius” such a strange outlier. And yet, sometimes an actor just needs to pay the bills.

“I have got a mortgage to pay, you know,” Harris told Britain’s i newspaper when asked about signing on to “Morbius.” “Sometimes you say yes to things because you need to make money.”

When asked what went wrong with the film, Harris responded: “I have observed that those types of films do well if you have a sense of humor. You can’t treat it as though it’s Shakespeare. So yeah, that movie could have done with a more mischievous sense of humor.”

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Harris starred in “Morbius” as Dr. Emil Nicholas, a mentor and father figure to Leto’s Michael Morbius and Matt Smith’s Milo Morbius. The film was widely panned by critics (it boasts a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes from 287 reviews) and bombed at the box office with $167 million at the worldwide box office. “Morbius” only grossed $73 million in North America.

“Yeah, it was thrown under the bus,” Smith told Rolling Stone UK last year about “Morbius” tanking. “But you just have to roll with it. What else are you gonna do? It’s a film, at the end of the day, we’re not saving lives. For whatever reason, it didn’t quite work out and… It is what it is.”

Variety critic Owen Gleiberman panned “Morbius” in his review, writing, “It’s neither original nor good…’Morbius’ is a generic Marvel movie, right down to Leto’s one-note scientist-turned-vampire. The entire movie, directed by Daniel Espinosa from a script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, is generic — naggingly, almost jarringly so. You watch it and think, ‘This is what now passes for a new Marvel chapter?’”