Ed Harrishas had a long and storied career as an actor,earning high praisefor his roles inWestworld, Snowpiercer, The Abyss,andThe Truman Show. But he’s also an accomplished director, having helmed and starred in the incrediblePollock(2000) about famed painter, Jackson Pollack, andAppaloosa(2008). Harris has been trying to get his next film off the ground, and recently spoke with Collider about its multi-year delay.
While promotingMy Dead Friend Zoe, Harris explained the difficulties of getting his next movie,The Ploughman, made. He spoke about how tough it is to find money for an indie film, explaining:
“I haven’t been able to get the financing together. It’s an indie film that probably costs more than it should, and I’ve been trying to slash the budget down, but I don’t want to make it on a shoestring because it deserves certain production values, so I don’t know. I hope, before I leave the planet, I get a chance to direct something again.”
‘Riff Raff’ Review: Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris, and Bill Murray Almost Save This Dark Comedy
Bill Murray, Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris, Lewis Pullman, Gabrielle Union, and Pete Davidson star in a crime comedy romp.
The Ploughmanis based on the 2014 novel of the same name by author Kim Zupan, and was named NPR’s Best Book of the year. It takes place in Montana and features a 77-year-old killer named John Gload awaiting trial, and Valentine Millimaki, who is part of the local sheriff’s department, and working the overnight shift. The two men get to talking and learn they both have a lot in common.
Harris officially got the rights to the novel in 2017 with the hope of Stacey Keach (Tombstone) taking on the role of Gload. A few years later in 2021, Robert Duvall and Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) were announced as the stars of the film, but that deal didn’t pan out.
The most recent news from last year is that Nick Nolte, Owen Teague, Bill Murray, Harris' wife Amy Madigan, and Lily Harris (Madigan and Harris' daughter) have been cast. Yet nothing has happened since then and the film is still stuck in limbo.
Harris also expressed frustration with not directing anything in nearly 20 years, saying, “I love directing, and I haven’t directed sinceAppaloosa, which was like 18 years ago, which is awful. It’s just hard to get something going.”
My Dead Friend Zoeis a new comedy / drama about an Army veteran named Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) who is visited by the ghost of her friend and fellow soldier, Zoe (Natalie Morales), as she deals with the effects of serving in Afghanistan. The film was directed by Iraq War veteran Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, and has a stacked cast, including Harris as Merit’s Grandpa Dale, along with the always wonderful Morgan Freeman as Dr. Cole, a U.S. military veteran and VA group counselor.
InMovieWeb’s review, Bianca Piazza wrote that the film is “always forthright but never exploitative, comedic but rarely performative.My Dead Friend Zoewill persuade viewers to rethink their personal battles with trauma, mental health, and positive vulnerability.” On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 95% critical rating and the movie is in theaters now.
