In narrative alone, there are huge differences between the world of Apple TV+’s sci-fi epic Foundation and the AMC channel’s classic drama Mad Men. A thousand-year chess match between a supposedly crumbling empire and a band of dissidents isn’t exactly the same ground covered by a tumultuous decade in the advertising world. However, the experiences that actor Jared Harris had during his work on the latter show did indeed help him appreciate co-creator David S. Goyer’s small screen adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s landmark book series a bit more.
What Jared Harris Learned From Directing Mad Men
That appreciation was found in front of, as well as behind the camera during Mad Men’s seven-season run between 2007 and 2015. As we sat down for the Foundation Season 2 press day, taking place before the SAG-AFTRA strike had begun, Harris was glad to dig the skills that his previous engagement had given him. Here’s what the actor told CinemaBlend about what he’d learned as a director on Mad Men:
There’s some very specific things I learned from being on that side. I would say that the most useful, for this conversation, would be … you know, when you’re doing a take, you get three. On Mad Men you get three takes, and pretty much that’s still kind of the norm. Unless you’re working with David Fincher, you don’t get lots of takes. So you have to show up prepared, you have to have a plan. And then you don’t get attached to the plan, and be prepared to experiment. Part of experimenting is getting things wrong. This was something that John Slattery said actually, which is often when you make a mistake, the next thing that happens is suddenly infused with a completely different energy. And it goes off in a really interesting direction. So don’t stop if you make a mistake. Sometimes you stop and you want to go again. I watch actors who spend a lot of time in front of the camera. It isn’t like a play, you can repeat moments over and over again, and explore them that way.
Jared Harris’ time in the Mad Men cast saw him playing the role of the tragic Lane Pryce for 26 episodes, as well as directing the Season 7 episode “Time & Life.” As evidenced in his comment above, that sort of non-stop “three take” mentality is the sort of approach a show like Foundation can also benefit from in the creative process.
Keeping up the energy, as well as limiting the number of takes for something as intense as Lee Pace’s wild nude fight scene, is always something that can help out a massive enterprise such as this Apple TV+ subscription booster. That being said, there is definitely a line between shaping a chapter of Don Draper’s mid-life crisis and a segment of the impending dark ages and renaissance of humanity.
Sure, there’s existential dread and introspection present in both, but Jon Hamm wasn’t executing Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce's rivals with horrific weapons of mass destruction. Which opens the door to discussing what exactly separates these two dramatic series in execution, as well as whether Jared Harris would want to direct an episode of Foundation.
The Difference Between Directing An Episode Of Foundation And Mad Men, According To Jared Harris
For as many lessons as can be learned between working on both Mad Men and Foundation, Jared Harris readily admits that a directing gig on both of these shows would differ wildly. I learned this firsthand, because during our conversation about working on the Jon Hamm-led period drama, I became curious if Mr. Harris would ever want to direct an episode of this cerebral sci-fi adventure.
While it doesn’t sound like he’ll be jumping in just yet, hearing Jared describe the specific differences between these two properties shows that he could take on directing a Foundation episode if he really wanted to. Further sharing his knowledge with CinemaBlend, here’s how Jared Harris described the directing process in his current series home:
It’s a big, big, big, big, big, big show, with a lot of massive technical aspects. I think that you have to have people who are extremely confident, and have a lot of experience. Let me put it this way: there are scenes that were shot, over one scene, that was shot over a period of say four months, in five different locations. And you just do these three lines, then we’ll do this bit, then we’ll do the other side a month later, just because of the way that it was written, that it takes place in sort of multiple places at once. You have to know exactly what it is that you want to see; and that’s why they have such experienced people making it; like Alex [Graves] and Roxann [Dawson].
Admittedly Jared Harris caveated this conversation by saying that it’d be up to David S. Goyer and the Foundation powers-that-be to even approach the possibility of giving him the director’s chair. Even with that condition in the air, the man who plays Hari Seldon sounds both enthusiastic about that potential, while also reverent of what sort of skills it would take to do it justice.
Something interesting to note in the response from Harris is the fact that he cites Roxann Dawson as one of the steady-handed directors helping keep Foundation on the right track. As it happens, Ms. Dawson was also once a cast member on a grand scale sci-fi epic herself, playing the role of B'Elanna Torres on Star Trek: Voyager. That series also marked her debut in directing, so if there’s anyone that Jared Harris might want to consult before potentially making the leap, it’d be her.
We may not see Jared Harris directing an episode of Asmovian drama any time soon, but who really knows? As Hari himself has hammered home time and again, Psychohistory can only predict the behaviors of massive populations, but not the actions of singular parties. Maybe one of the Foundation secrets David S. Goyer is keeping from his writers and actors is that he feels Jared might be right for a particular episode down the line?
The world will just have to keep watching to find out, which is as good a time as any for Foundation fans old and new to tune in as the series unfolds throughout the 2023 TV schedule. New episodes debut every Friday, with the Season 2 finale set to be released on September 15th. So if you’re a binge watcher, you still have a fair amount of time to catch up before the next gigantic cliffhanger arrives.
