Ed heads for the West End and his wife comes, too
The London stage debut of Oscar-nominated actor ed harris will be a family affair: the part of his stage wife will be played by his real-life spouse, the actress Amy Madigan.
harris will play Dodge, patriarch of a dysfunctional family, in Sam Shepard’s celebrated play Buried Child. And Madigan will play halie, the psychologically troubled matriarch.
‘They have some dark secrets,’ harris told me. ‘I think most families have a few secrets, or some strange aspect to their history. We’re all fascinated by family dynamics, but I’d much rather sit in an audience and watch someone else’s problems!’
The actor, whose credits include memorable roles in movies such as Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, The hours and Places In The heart — the 1984 movie during which he met and fell in love with Madigan — has long wanted to tread the boards in London.
he and Madigan starred in a revival of Buried Child, directed by Scott elliott for the New Group company, off Broadway earlier this year.
‘It’s fun to share intimately with your partner,’ he said, adding that the rest of the London cast would be new.
Buried Child will run for a season at Trafalgar Studios from November 14 until February 18 .
It’s being brought here by the same team (the New Group and Ambassador Theatre Group) that transferred The Spoils, with Jesse eisenberg, which has just completed a successful extended run at the Trafalgar. Adam Speers, from ATG, said the Buried Child company would rehearse in New York in October, and then scoot over to London.
harris has been shooting backto-back film and television roles that include an untitled Darren Aronofsky film, which will also star Jennifer Lawrence and Domhnall Gleeson.
he’s in the middle of playing a photographer in another picture, Kodachrome (due out in 2017); and also had a small part in a film called A Crooked Somebody.
‘I was only there for about a day, and I kept looking at an actress,’ he told me. ‘I was puzzled, but then I finally realised who she was.’
It was Joanne Froggatt, the British actress who rose to stardom as Anna, the ladies’ maid in Downton Abbey.
‘I was so used to seeing her in her little uniform,’ harris explained. ‘ She was great fun. I liked her a lot.’