I've never seen an episode of 'Mad Men' (I know, blasphemy ain't it?) and I bailed out on 'Fringe' just after the pilot, so all I know of Brit actor
Jared Harris is his brief turn as the crazy, often intoxicated ship's captain that takes Benjamin Button under his wing. That, and oh, that he is the son of the great Richard Harris, whose genes must put him in good stead for this. Still I'm stunned to hear from
Latino Review that Harris has almost certainly been cast as uber-villain Prof Moriarty in the soon to be filming '
Sherlock Holmes 2'. Stunned because director
Guy Ritchie and Warner Bros. seemed certain they wanted an A-lister for Sherlock's arch enemy, dubbed 'the Napoleon of Crime'. Brad Pitt, Daniel Day-Lewis, Russell Crowe and Gary Oldman were spoke of among many others, and I'm certain at least one of them was downright offered the part, but instead it's gone to an even less famous actor than Mark Strong, the villain from the origin movie. Not that I particularly care. A-listers as major villains often carry too much baggage that sours their power as a character, and often it's when the likes of unknowns Christoph Waltz and Javier Bardem pop up and give fantastic villainy turns that things really get interesting. Would Hans Landa or Anton Chigurh be so compelling if they were played by Sean Penn and Tom Hanks? To play Moriarty (who in truth, is as flexible a villain as The Joker and can be played by Harris in any way he sees fit), I would hope for a calculating, smart, straight-laced, cold performance. I don't want no hysterics and no hamming up here. Ritchie is locking down his cast right now.
Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock),
Jude Law (Watson),
Rachel McAdams (Irene Adler) all return, with
Naoomi Rapace, Stephen Fry (as Sherlock's brother Mycroft) and
Russell Brand all new additions. Rapace and Brand are apparently playing gypsies. We presume Moriarty is the main villain of the sequel, but personally, whilst I would make him a major character - I wouldn't have him as the villain until movie no. 3 (and indeed would keep the first meeting of Holmes & Moriarty separate in this one).