Martin Harris Shares Stories From Growing Up Under Communism To Big Role On ‘Superman’

(Photo credit to Aleksandra Poliakovsky)

Written by Colleen Bement, Editor

Always a creative, Martin Harris started a band at just 14. It wasn’t long before he found his path as a sports journalist and news correspondent. At 30, he moved to the United States and left behind his steady job to find more adventure. While covering the NBA, he made friends with Kobe Bryant, who gave him the advice he needed to finally pursue acting. He did, and before he knew it, he was in Better Call Saul, The Staircase, Stranger Things, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Video gamers know him as Sebastian Krueger in “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” and “Call of Duty: Warzone.” Now he’s on the big screen in the new Superman as the Boravian General. 

Harris chatted with Nerd Alert News to share some interesting stories. He spent his childhood in Poland and East Germany, witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall, speaks 13 languages, and collects 18th-century art. Read about his time on the set of James Gunn’s new Superman and get to know this amazing talent.     

Colleen Bement: Congratulations on your latest role in “Superman!” Did I read it right that you had no idea what the film was until you arrived on set? 

Martin Harris: No, not necessarily. When I auditioned for it. Once I booked the role, they did call me and I talked to them about it. When I auditioned for it I didn’t know what it was for. I got a call a week later from James’ (Gunn) assistant, and we talked about some details regarding fitting, what the role is, and what language they wanted me to speak. It was called “Project Genesis.”

CB: That must have been interesting,

MH: Definitely. I didn’t see the whole script, and I was getting it literally line by line, and some of it a day prior to the filming. Until I saw the movie, I didn’t know that the Boravian thing was such a big part of the film. They hid it in the trailers, and that was a surprise how big the storyline was.

CB: I’ll bet that was awesome.                

MH: I love it. I wish that I knew a little bit earlier than after the movie came out, so that would have saved me a lot of stress, I guess.

CB: Let’s chat more Superman. I’m a big fan and I love DC. Who is your favorite Superman actor, and which is your favorite movie?

MH: Well, this might sound wrong that I’d pick this film, not only because of my emotional attachment, but in the times we’re living, I think this film was very, very important to send that message of kindness and a unifying message and a positive message to people watching this film that can inspire them to go do good things. I’ve seen stats about people adopting dogs, and that’s good. That’s the movie doing a good deed. That’s why I think this movie is important. Obviously, I loved the first one, but I kind of like all of them for different reasons. Probably less the ones that are darker in tone. I couldn’t understand why Superman was fighting Batman. I couldn’t understand why they were having a beef. For me, that was a little bit too much. But the film was good as a separate film. Those were different characters, and I would have liked it. It was more of a Batman film than a Superman film, that’s for sure.

CB: I agree. I honestly didn’t like that movie that much for that very reason. 

MH: I wasn’t a big fan of that. It was obviously very well-crafted from the filmmaking standpoint, but I didn’t like the message. I didn’t like the tone. I even liked the cheesy ones like Superman 3 and Superman 4. Nobody likes Superman 4, but I didn’t mind it. It made me laugh. I love the 80s stuff. It’s over the top and cheesy, but it’s really harmless. 

CB: Right? Don’t we need stuff like that sometimes?

MH: Yeah. I didn’t mind it at all. I had a good time. I’ve watched them all after I got the part. My friend pretty much gave me homework.

CB: I’ve been a fan of Superman since I was a kid, and I even watched reruns of the Superman TV show.

MH: Nice. I was a fan of two iconic characters growing up. Superman and James Bond, so half of the job is done. Now I have to book a James Bond movie, then I’ll be happy.

CB: Back on James Gunn’s Superman. I agree with you that it is important in what is going on in the world today. I really liked the message. 

MH: One hundred percent. That was kind of the vibe I got on set. It’s been the most relaxing and fun experience of me filming anything. I talked to Bonnie Discepolo at a special event, and she worked with James before on Guardians of the Galaxy, and we were talking about our experience. We didn’t work on the same day. We worked in different locations and on different days, but our take from it was the same. It is so much on James Gunn sets. Everything is having a good time. It’s friendly. Nobody’s rushing, nobody’s yelling at anybody. It’s a very cool atmosphere. And he moves extremely fast. He’s so prepared. I’ve never seen a director be so prepared.

I did another film where I worked on one scene for two and a half weeks. It was a big budget film a couple of years ago, and this one I showed up on set at 8 am. Breakfast, and then I did 90% of my work in one day. Five scenes back to back. One, two, three takes–boom! Next set up. Everybody knows where we’re going. Everybody’s in position. He always has a very specific thing that he does. It adds to the character, like at the time I was doing it, but I had to think about why I was doing it. Then later, when I watched the film, it made perfect sense. For an example, we walked from a press conference to meeting Nicholas Hoult. Which was filmed on separate days. We just did the part until he goes to the other dimension. Then we did it on a different day with Nicholas. He told me when you open the door, don’t look into the eyes–look into the ground. Like you’re afraid to look at him. That was a very nice take because it helped me in the next scene.

CB: That’s got to be helpful.

MH: Yeah, it gives you so many layers of the character that tells you who that person is.

CB: I hope I’m not getting too personal, but you grew up in Poland and East Germany. What was childhood like in Poland and East Germany? Did I read that your father was a professor?

MH: The first 12 years were years of communism, and those were some of the worst years of communism because it was a bankrupt communism. At the very tail end of it, where people were on the streets because there was no food. There were no products in the stores. You couldn’t buy anything except for vodka and vinegar. That’s all there was in stores. We were lucky because our grandpa had a little farm, so we would have homegrown food. It was a struggle. East Germany was actually much better. The time I spent in East Germany was around four months every year between ‘85 and ‘89. I was there when the wall collapsed. I was in Berlin. That was a different world. In East Germany, they had bananas. They had chocolate. They even had a local version of Coca-Cola. I was always waiting to go to East Germany. Everything we were coming back from East Germany, everybody was smuggling something because there was nothing in Poland.

CB: What or who inspired you to become an actor?

MH: It came later in my life. I grew up with art because my father was a professor of art. I also started collecting art in the last two or three years. I have some rare paintings in my collection. It’s something that gives me a lot of joy. Especially the old art from the 18th century. But my first career was trying to be a rock star, I guess. When I was 14, I started a band, and nothing happened with the band. I was heartbroken and didn’t know what to do, and later I started writing professional reviews. I worked for a rock and roll magazine in Poland. Then I worked part-time for a radio station, going to concerts and interviewing musicians. I couldn’t really support myself, so I decided one day, I was 19, I decided to get into sports journalism. It was easy for me because I was always kind of driven, and because I knew languages German and English, I had a big career as a sports writer/sportscaster. I started reporting on the NBA and became friends with Kobe Bryant, and he told me to follow my dream and try acting. That’s when I started thinking about acting, around 29 or 30. It didn’t happen to me being a rockstar, and maybe I can fulfill it with acting.

CB: It sounds like it was your destiny to follow a creative path.

MH: Yeah, I was still drawn to a couple of things. I wrote a couple of books about basketball, and I was doing stand-up, and was running shows at The Comedy Store for three years. Kobe told me that in 2020, and I realized that I only took half of this message into my heart. The other half was work your ass off, but in one direction. Just focus on something. The results came shortly after.

CB: That was quite a time to start. During the pandemic.

MH: But you know what, I was able to use it to my advantage. Although there were less opportunities, at the same time, there were more opportunities for unknown actors to break through. I remember my first job in 2021 on the film Amsterdam. I went on set to help people with their German lines, and I ended up acting in it and being in a scene that ended up in the trailer. I was at the premiere in New York for it, between Christian Bale and Margot Robbie. But that could only happen during the pandemic, and that was a miracle that it happened that way. That gave me so much confidence. I booked Stranger Things the following week, and Better Call Saul, The Staircase, Winning Time, Snowfall, and I haven’t stopped since.

CB: It must have helped that you speak so many languages. 

MH: That was one thing that I realized early in the game that at some point I want to learn how to speak an American accent, but first I want to establish myself as a guy who can speak many different languages. You have to find your niche. 

CB: Well, I’m glad you did. Now you’re in Superman, and I got the chance to talk with you. Since you were inspired by Kobe Bryant, what can you share to inspire actors so that they don’t give up? 

MH: It’s a lesson to my younger self: Just do it for the love of acting. Not for other reasons, because if you do it for different reasons to be famous, to be rich, I don’t know, to take revenge on your ex-girlfriend or boyfriend, or whatever, it’s not going to work out. You really have to like auditioning, like doing small theater. You just have to enjoy the process. If you don’t, you’re out for lots of misery and trauma. But if you embrace the love for creating roles, no matter how big the movie or play, or show is, then you will love it. It’s not about the end result; it’s about the task.

CB: Great advice! Thank you for the chat.        

Keep up with Martin Harris on his Instagram. See what new adventures he is up to. 

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A post shared by Martin Harris (@martin_harrisla)

 

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