Carnival Row season 2 premieres on Friday, February 17, on Amazon Prime Video. The show highlights mythological creatures and how they engage with humans. We sat down with actor Jamie Harris, who plays police officer Sergeant Dombe, ahead of the new series release.
Previous roles of Jamie’s include Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, Rise of the Planet of the Apes starring James Franco, The New World, and more. His father was actor Richard Harris, who passed away in October 2002. Jamie and his family starred in The Ghost of Richard Harris, released last year. The film is based on Richard’s life as one of the most remarkable actors in Ireland.
It wasn’t until 1990 when Richard and Jim Sheridan were filming The Field, that Jamie thought about becoming an actor. Jamie would watch how his father and Sheridan acted around each other when they were on set. He thought it was so fascinating seeing the bond the two had and how they got along so well on and off set.
So how did Sheridan have an impact on Jamie’s acting career? He explains “After the filming [of The Field] ended, Jim Sheridan asked me to stay behind in Dublin and help work on the editing as an assistant editor. We were in a pub one night having a beer, and he said to me, “I think if you’re looking at what to do with your career. I think you should be in front of the camera,” and I said, I don’t know how comfortable I feel about that. He said, “No, I look at you and I see how you are around people, and I think you should at least think about being an actor.” Although Jamie knew his father was an incredible actor, he didn’t think it was what his career path would look like. Jamie needed that extra push from Sheridan.
Next up, Jamie is preparing for the release of Carnival Row Season 2. Let’s take a look at how he managed to tackle his role as Sergeant Dombey alongside Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevigne.
Sergeant Dombey plays more of a so-called racist or nationalist role, so it was difficult for Jamie to figure out how to go about the role. He did hours and hours of research in order to try to understand his character and where he was coming from.
He explains, “I went to a great acting coach who said to me, look, there’s nothing more boring than playing a racist or a nationalist, but there’s nothing more interesting than to find out why he is that. So I did a lot of research. I did; I read The Hillbilly Elegy before the film came out. I read that, which was very insightful. I just tried to find out his background, his family life, his religious beliefs, and the morals of that time.” Understanding the character allowed him to find the strength within his character and his acting.
Being able to do this in-depth research allowed Jamie to step into Sergeant Dombey’s shoes and really get a feel for the character. Given that he did immense research, he was able to help the producer, Erik Olsen.
Olsen often came to Jamie to see if he had any insight regarding the character, and of course, he did. In episode 4 of season 1, the show highlights Sergeant Dombey’s family.
The family background stemmed from Jamie and the research he did.
Jamie has transformed into an incredible actor and has Jim Sheridan to thank. His father also had a big impact on his acting career and allowed him to be the person he is today.
Learn more about Jamie Harris and watch the Carnival Row season 2 trailer here. Carnival Row season 2 will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on February 17.
