Richard Harris Bulls His Way Into ‘Field’

After a decade in retreat from the silver screen, Richard Harris campaigned for the part of stubborn Irish farmer Bull McCabe in the upcoming movie “The Field.”

Invited to discuss a lesser role in the film, Harris showed up with a beard to look like the McCabe character, dressed in costume and spoke with the proper accent. It worked. He got the lead role in the film by director Jim Sheridan, who made “My Left Foot.”

“An actor waits 30 years, maybe all his life, and never gets things this good,” said Harris, 60.

McCabe is a feisty Irish farmer who will do anything to protect his plot of land, bought up by a wealthy Irish-American. Brenda Fricker, winner of an Oscar for best supporting actress for “My Left Foot,” plays his wife.

Harris, nominated for best actor in 1963 for “This Sporting Life,” said he never truly gave up on films, but perhaps Hollywood gave up on him.

“I disappeared . . . because I was offered nothing, really second- and third-rate parts,” Harris said. “One day I said to myself, ‘I’m rich. I don’t have to do this anymore.’ ”

Harris’ film credits include “Camelot,” “A Man Called Horse,” “The Guns of Navarone” and “The Molly Maguires.” He spent most of the 1980s on tour with “Camelot.”