Jared Harris Took ‘Morbius’ Role Because He Has “A Mortgage To Pay”

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.