Mark Harris
@markharris.bsky.social
Writer, husband, etc. Books: Pictures at a Revolution (2008), Five Came Back (2014), Mike Nichols: A Life (2021), Our Way (coming in fall 2027). Lately: T, New York, etc. Past: EW, Grantland, younger. I am not Mark Hamill so I cannot "stick to acting."
While we wait to see if Digger gets Tom Cruise an Oscar, here's an essay I wrote about his three Academy Award nominations, his hard turn away from that early quest, his strengths and weaknesses, and the limits of "intensity." A decade later, I think it still applies. grantland.com/hollywood-pr...
» Cruise’s Oscar Years: One Decade. Three Nominations. Myriad Lessons.
grantland.com
September 19, 2026 at 4:09 AM
While we wait to see if Digger gets Tom Cruise an Oscar, here's an essay I wrote about his three Academy Award nominations, his hard turn away from that early quest, his strengths and weaknesses, and the limits of "intensity." A decade later, I think it still applies. grantland.com/hollywood-pr...
Correction: A company marketing a cartoon character obtained the cooperation of an opportunistic journalist for an infomercial, and it failed.
Tilly Norwood, a controversial AI “actor,” abruptly switched languages during an interview with Piers Morgan, though the company behind the AI creation denied she malfunctioned.
AI ‘Actor’ Tilly Norwood Abruptly Switches Languages Mid-Interview
Tilly Norwood, a controversial AI “actor,” abruptly switched languages during an interview with Piers Morgan, though the company behind the AI creation denied she malfunctioned.
www.forbes.com
September 19, 2026 at 2:25 AM
Correction: A company marketing a cartoon character obtained the cooperation of an opportunistic journalist for an infomercial, and it failed.
Reposted by Mark Harris
I do not laugh out loud to memes very often, but this one really got me.
September 18, 2026 at 3:18 AM
I do not laugh out loud to memes very often, but this one really got me.
Just called my husband a horrible antisemitic slur because I was texting too fast, how is your morning going?
September 18, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Just called my husband a horrible antisemitic slur because I was texting too fast, how is your morning going?
You might want to follow this Dem candidate for an LI House seat--the victim of a homophobic smear campaign.
Let’s be clear about what this is: a coordinated political hit meant to drive me out of this race.
I’m proud of who I am. I won’t be shamed into silence – and I won’t allow my private life to be distorted and weaponized against me.
I’m proud of who I am. I won’t be shamed into silence – and I won’t allow my private life to be distorted and weaponized against me.
September 17, 2026 at 8:43 PM
You might want to follow this Dem candidate for an LI House seat--the victim of a homophobic smear campaign.
Bret's friends are just out of camera range.
September 17, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Bret's friends are just out of camera range.
A detail about The Graduate from my book research: The one scene in which they couldn't plausibly make Anne Bancroft, 36, look old and sun-damaged was the goodbye in the rain (it was 60 years ago and makeup in color was still tricky). So you get a glimpse that's close to what she really looked like.
September 17, 2026 at 2:57 PM
A detail about The Graduate from my book research: The one scene in which they couldn't plausibly make Anne Bancroft, 36, look old and sun-damaged was the goodbye in the rain (it was 60 years ago and makeup in color was still tricky). So you get a glimpse that's close to what she really looked like.
I'm getting all kinds of reminders tonight that The Graduate is not a movie for people who like their good guys and bad guys cleanly delineated.
The crucial sympathy-shift in experiencing The Graduate is when you go from his age to her age.
Flipped on THE GRADUATE on TCM + have learned I am now Mrs. Robinson years old (36)!
September 17, 2026 at 4:34 AM
I'm getting all kinds of reminders tonight that The Graduate is not a movie for people who like their good guys and bad guys cleanly delineated.
The crucial sympathy-shift in experiencing The Graduate is when you go from his age to her age.
Flipped on THE GRADUATE on TCM + have learned I am now Mrs. Robinson years old (36)!
September 17, 2026 at 4:08 AM
The crucial sympathy-shift in experiencing The Graduate is when you go from his age to her age.
Each of my books has depended on the archives of the Performing Arts Library, of which I made free use because I'm lucky enough to live close by. This gift robs me of my unfair advantage & I hate it. (Seriously: A miracle that will transform performing arts research.)
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/a...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/a...
New York Performing Arts Library Gets $60 Million Gift for Preservation (Gift Article)
The anonymous donation, the library’s largest ever, will support digitization of archival items related to theater, dance and music.
www.nytimes.com
September 16, 2026 at 10:44 PM
Each of my books has depended on the archives of the Performing Arts Library, of which I made free use because I'm lucky enough to live close by. This gift robs me of my unfair advantage & I hate it. (Seriously: A miracle that will transform performing arts research.)
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/a...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/a...
I think the deep, dug-in loathing for Trump is...because of literally everything he is, says, and does, OK yes sure, but also, because we've never experienced this with a second-term president: We haven't had to put up with him for six years, but for ten. He can't recover from that. (I hope WE can.)
September 16, 2026 at 4:41 PM
I think the deep, dug-in loathing for Trump is...because of literally everything he is, says, and does, OK yes sure, but also, because we've never experienced this with a second-term president: We haven't had to put up with him for six years, but for ten. He can't recover from that. (I hope WE can.)
I don't think I can count the number of writers I know who have The Writing Life on their shelves, or who drew inspiration from Annie Dillard's work and guidance. RIP.
I have had some great teachers in this life, and she was the one who taught me what I could call the survival techniques to being a writer. I wouldn't have made it this far without her. I'm grateful to her, for her. Rest in peace, Annie.
Breaking News: Annie Dillard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the modern classic “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” has died at 81.
September 16, 2026 at 2:30 PM
I don't think I can count the number of writers I know who have The Writing Life on their shelves, or who drew inspiration from Annie Dillard's work and guidance. RIP.
I am fascinating by the ongoing Ed Sheeran story and the way it strikes right at the heart of the fading viability of "Oh, I don't do politics."
September 16, 2026 at 1:38 AM
I am fascinating by the ongoing Ed Sheeran story and the way it strikes right at the heart of the fading viability of "Oh, I don't do politics."
"I will destroy the Kennedy Center unless you name it after me" isn't surprising because it's petty and petulant and exposes the morally vacant core of a sore loser. But the political ineptitude of it is jolting. We're deep in Trump's "tantrum minus strategy" era.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/a...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/a...
Trump Fights Back After Judge Says Name Must Stay Off Kennedy Center (Gift Article)
President Trump threatened to cancel a $257 million renovation of the performing arts venue if the judge’s ban was not overturned.
www.nytimes.com
September 15, 2026 at 9:43 PM
"I will destroy the Kennedy Center unless you name it after me" isn't surprising because it's petty and petulant and exposes the morally vacant core of a sore loser. But the political ineptitude of it is jolting. We're deep in Trump's "tantrum minus strategy" era.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/a...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/a...
Trump is in a very strange place these days. This is, in language he would understand, a loser move, a bitch move, one that will not win a single Republican a single vote. And he doesn't care, because for him, it's all about collecting trophies before he dies. It's a new kind of scary.
Trump: "The Kennedy Center is in a virtual state of collapse, and has been for many years ... unfortunately, the Building is destined to doom. Isn’t that too bad?"
September 15, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Trump is in a very strange place these days. This is, in language he would understand, a loser move, a bitch move, one that will not win a single Republican a single vote. And he doesn't care, because for him, it's all about collecting trophies before he dies. It's a new kind of scary.
![Closed caption of Tom Cruise, from video of the GQ interview:
[Tom wheezes]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:zknk3rjsatent75sdbbopown/bafkreiei4nkhyhgwiyleq4up6vinikqnqhowxf3weba7p2anbwdsvmpaky)
Still thinking about the bungled Emmys, in particular, the death tribute. Macaulay Culkin and the Schitt's Creek folks looking like a very uncomfortable blended family at a wake. A Dolly Parton tribute that could have focused on her great, funny TV work on Carson and various talk shows, but instead>
September 15, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Still thinking about the bungled Emmys, in particular, the death tribute. Macaulay Culkin and the Schitt's Creek folks looking like a very uncomfortable blended family at a wake. A Dolly Parton tribute that could have focused on her great, funny TV work on Carson and various talk shows, but instead>
Tonight's Emmys definitely set a record for most uses of the word perineum in ads.
September 15, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Tonight's Emmys definitely set a record for most uses of the word perineum in ads.
Reposted by Mark Harris
Reminder: It is *inexcusable* that the Oscars have moved the lifetime achievement awards out of the main telecast. There is no reasonable justification for not having a moment like that Michael J. Fox moment at EVERY award show.
September 15, 2026 at 1:57 AM
Reminder: It is *inexcusable* that the Oscars have moved the lifetime achievement awards out of the main telecast. There is no reasonable justification for not having a moment like that Michael J. Fox moment at EVERY award show.
Supporting Actor, Actress, Writing and Directing of a Limited Series, and the Variety Special awards that went to the Bad Bunny halftime show and The Muppet Show were all booted off the Emmy telecast to make room for more "fun." An hour and 42 minutes in, I have some questions about that. >
September 15, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Supporting Actor, Actress, Writing and Directing of a Limited Series, and the Variety Special awards that went to the Bad Bunny halftime show and The Muppet Show were all booted off the Emmy telecast to make room for more "fun." An hour and 42 minutes in, I have some questions about that. >
I don't understand this Emmy Awards--not the winners, who are by and large great choices, but the producing decisions. Every acting award has now been given, and the show still has an hour and 38 minutes to go.
September 15, 2026 at 1:23 AM
I don't understand this Emmy Awards--not the winners, who are by and large great choices, but the producing decisions. Every acting award has now been given, and the show still has an hour and 38 minutes to go.
Great montage of one of Bob Mackie's signatures--the Cher unveilings, circa 1976.
September 14, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Great montage of one of Bob Mackie's signatures--the Cher unveilings, circa 1976.
RIP Bob Mackie, genius.
September 14, 2026 at 5:32 PM
RIP Bob Mackie, genius.
Someone who doesn't follow me swaggering into my mentions and calling me "son" was just the fastest block in history.
September 14, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Someone who doesn't follow me swaggering into my mentions and calling me "son" was just the fastest block in history.
I'm seeing a lot of "Obama opposed gay marriage" on the timeline today. It's bullshit. Obama said what he needed to say to get elected in 2008, appointed two SCOTUS justices who were for marriage equality in his first term, created an "I'm evolving" narrative that helped move the center... >
September 14, 2026 at 1:08 AM
I'm seeing a lot of "Obama opposed gay marriage" on the timeline today. It's bullshit. Obama said what he needed to say to get elected in 2008, appointed two SCOTUS justices who were for marriage equality in his first term, created an "I'm evolving" narrative that helped move the center... >