Jared Harris has revealed he signed up to star in the 2022 flop Morbius simply because he needed the money.

The Mad Men actor starred in the critically panned film as Dr. Emil Nicholas, a mentor and father figure for living vampires Michael and Milo, who were played by Jared Leto and Matt Smith.

Harris, the son of acting legend Richard Harris, told British outlet The i that he signed up for the supporting role for purely financial reasons.

“I have got a mortgage to pay, you know,” Harris said. “Sometimes you say yes to things because you need to make money.”

Morbius, which is part of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU), was slated by critics upon its release and grossed a disappointing $167 million (£125 million) at the box office.

Harris indicated that he had no illusions about the quality of the material and suggested the film would have worked better if it wasn’t so serious.

“I have observed that those types of films do well if you have a sense of humour,” he shared. “You can’t treat it as though it’s Shakespeare. So yeah, that movie could have done with a more mischievous sense of humour.”

Morbius marked the third entry in the SSU after the first two Venom films. It was followed by Madame Web, which was also a critical and commercial failure upon its release in February.

Despite the flops, the SSU will continue later this year with Venom: The Last Dance in October and Kraven the Hunter in December.

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