Richard Harmon’s Been Waiting For This Moment
Full look by Tommy Hilfiger
Words and Photography by Dio Anthony Grooming by Anna Bernabe
R Richard Harmon's been waiting for this moment. The moment? A seat among the royals of cinematic history. By way of a career-defining role in Final Destination: Bloodlines. It's the sixth entry into the FD universe, a franchise known for its elaborate deaths and unique take on fate. Not to mention an abundance of gore.
As of this writing, it holds the title of the biggest R-rated opening of the decade.
Harmon, just 8 years old when the original was released, grew up to be a horror-fanatic, and his role in the flick feels like both a gift from the universe and a rite of passage of sorts. A secured spot in horror history. He's not wrong; his place is set, and his seat will forever be reserved.
Meeting him in person, he's silly and clever. Quick-witted and approachable. There are bits of his character etched into his personality. Loose and quietly wild, ready for a good time and open to an adventure. He's the same way in conversation. Filled with anecdotes and ideas about the horror genre, a genre he loves and has been lucky to actively participate in, years before this role. For him, it's a way of life, a choice he's made with his career, appeasing the little kid inside of him--and making a name for himself while he's at it.
Full look by Tommy Hilfiger
“A film set is sort of like my Disneyland.”
American Studies: I thought we could have an open conversation about horror. Then I realized I had a lot of specific things I was curious about too. To start with, growing up in Canada, what was the first thing that ever scared you? A story someone told you, or anything that really left a mark on you?
Richard Harmon: I went on a field trip one time when I was like eight years old. There's a place in Vancouver called Science World, and it's this big globe kind of looking building, and it's very fun to go to. We went as a class, and we were allowed to sleep over at Science World in our sleeping bags. I woke up in the middle of the night and I found a hook in my sleeping bag, and that freaked me out. And I've been telling everyone for two decades since that I woke up with a hook in my sleeping bag. Everyone now is like, Richard, you made that story up, and I might have. But to my knowledge, that hook is real, and it's always been real.
And you never found out where the hook came from? Assuming it wasn't a story you made up or a nightmare you had.
It's still something that me and my best friend talk about. He's like, I believed you when we were eight, all the way up to when we were 15, but I don't believe you now. He thinks that it didn't happen, and I still believe that it did— that there was a madman on the loose and put a hook in my bed.
It’s a very pulled from the headlines type of story. Nice! Speaking of growing up in Canada I read that your dad was totally embedded in the entertainment industry, right?
Yeah, my mom and my dad.
That's pretty killer. I love this idea of a showbiz family.
And my sister as well.
What was that experience like, specifically with your mom and dad? Were they bringing you to set? Were they bringing home props after they wrapped? I'm also assuming it totally influenced you and why you wanted to become an actor.
Yeah, they did bring me to set. My dad, he's a director now, but he was the first assistant director when I was young, which to me, will forever be the hardest job on a film set– being the first AD. I went and visited him a few times. Not much, because I think he and my mom are the same as me. I feel like visiting your loved one on set isn't helpful–it’s work. You don't really go and interrupt someone's work. A few times when I was growing up, I did, and that's where I kind of got implanted, that a film set is sort of like my Disneyland, you know? It's the most exciting place in the world. I still think that to this day. Just to be there and see everyone setting up lights and doing everything. It’s the most special place in the world to me.
So that kind of imprinted that. But my mom and my dad never wanted me to actually go into acting or my sister. The chances of actually being successful in that is pretty difficult. So they really didn't want us to go into acting. But we were steadfast that we wanted to, and eventually they let us, when we were young–we've put our feet into the ground, and we love it. We've ended up having our little bits of success, which is amazing.
“I was going to quit. I said, that’s it... Let’s go out with a bang.”
I feel like that's a common throughline with showbiz families. I have a lot of friends who are actors now, and also grew up with people in the business at home. And were also told the same thing, but it kind of almost makes you want to be in it even more.
Exactly. It's like, you let me come to a film set, and you didn't want me to be an actor? There was no hope for me.
I feel like you've dabbled in a lot of horror, and horror adjacent projects before Final Destination. What would you say was your first real foray into horror?
Trick or treat.
That's a good one. What do you think back when you think about that title?
I was 15 years old. The funny thing is, I had been acting since I was 10, but I didn't have a lot of success, and I was going to quit. I was like, this is clearly never going to happen for me. Even with the roles that I do get, I'm not on set enough to really enjoy the set the way that I did when I got to see my dad enjoy it and be part of that film family. I would just get a couple days on set here and there for small roles–I wasn’t a part of the film set family. That was the thing that I really wanted to be a part of. I was frustrated and I wanted to quit. I said, that's it, and I took one last audition, which ended up being Trick or Treat–-and I booked it. I remember thinking–ok, this is it. This is the last thing I'll ever do. Let's go out with a bang.
And it was the first time that it was a two and a half month shoot, and it was incredible. They had, I think, like, 12,000 bags of dead leaves and 11,000 pumpkins that they used, and everything was practical. It was absolutely nuts. That's what actually made me fall in love with Halloween–was doing that movie. It was such an experience being a part of that kind of culture, and it was incredible. I had so much fun and that's what made me fall in love with horror. It was doing Trick or treat.
And after that, I thought– this is the most important thing in the world to me, is acting and doing movies like this. So I didn't quit, and I decided, if you're going to keep going, you have to work a lot harder than you worked before to make this dream a reality. And I did, and I have, and, you know, I'm about to be 34 and here I am—we're still doing it.
“I made the character that I wanted to see in Final Destination.”
I love that you brought up Trick or Treat, because I feel like it's… I don't even want to say it's niche, because it's a really major film.
It’s a classic at this point.
It’s a total cult classic. Maybe I'm speaking to the wrong horror fans. I feel like even big horror fans might have not seen Trick or treat.
If you're a horror fan, you have to see Trick or Treat. It's a love letter to Halloween and to horror. It's just the most fun. It's beautiful. I love that movie.
It really, really is. Visually it's super stunning. Speaking of cult classics and horror sets in general– if there was any kind of horror film that you could guest star in–I'm thinking the original Halloween, Black Christmas, stuff like that. Films stuck in time–what would it be?
You know what’s funny? My sister was in the reboot of Black Christmas.
Really? That's perfect.
Yeah, that's interesting. The first horror movie I ever watched and frightened me for decades was the first Scream honestly, but I loved it so much, and I've re-watched that movie so many times— so I guess I would say Scream. If I could be in one of the new Scream movies, I would love to be. The original is something so special to me. One of my favorite actors of all time is Matthew Lillard. He is, I think, the most underrated actor of a generation. And I got to tell him that at a convention we were at one time. I was like, if no one's ever told you this, you are the most underrated actor of a generation. You're incredible. You watch him in Scream after you know that he's the killer. Go back and watch the movie and watch him in the background of scenes. He's giving a master class. He's incredible. I base a lot of what I do off of Lillard in that movie.
You're so right. He’s that guy..
He's the best. Literally one of the greatest actors you could ever watch. He's incredible.
Yeah, it's super fun watching him on screen. I'm wondering why Scream is a film that really scares you? I love Scream too, I could probably quote it in my sleep–but it was never a film that kept me up. I'm more quickly scared of a possible ghost upstairs. What was it for you that made this so real?
Yeah, it was. I think my parents didn't realize what I asked them to rent when I was like nine years old and watched scream alone. It just fucked me up, you know, that mask. For me, the slasher genre and the random killer that's behind the mask will forever be the scariest thing to me, because it is so real. Anyone could be that anyone could do that. When they're behind the mask, they're sort of super human. It's never scary in the last scene of Scream, when they rip the mask off and it’s Skeet and Matt–now you're just in this thing waiting to see how it all comes out, right? But when they're behind the mask, they're the devil incarnate, and that, to me, is terrifying.
“Death is the main character. We can all agree with that.”
You're right. When they're being chased around that house, it's like, holy crap. It does hit a little different. Such a good film.
It's incredible. West Craven did such an amazing job for the entirety of horror.
I agree. It's so interesting because it's such a simple plot in terms of what a slasher is, but it's really, really good. It cuts deep. And it's always fun and fresh too. Just like Final Destination, though. What was your moment when reading the script where you thought–this is different, this is fresh.
That's a good question. I think it was hard for me because I was such a massive fan, and being a horror movie guy, I think everyone when they found out that I booked this–my parents and my friends, they all knew what a big deal it was for me to be a part of horror royalty. It's Final Destination. This is horror royalty. I've done a lot of horror movies in my life and been a part of it because I love to be a part of horror—but this is the first time doing something like this.
To answer your question, It wasn't until we were shooting it day in and day out. I knew what I was doing. I saw what everyone else was doing, and it felt like we were really bringing something to it and having fun. I won't speak for everyone else, I'll speak for myself – I made the character that I wanted to see in Final Destination. I thought-- he should be funny, he should be genuine, he should be all these things. I realized that when we were making it, that it was coming to life, and that we were doing everything practically. But maybe when I first realized that this is great was when I was doing my death scene–and how we did that practically, which I never could have understood. And we did, and I think that's fantastic that we could do that.
Stepping into this whole thing, was it fear? Was it excitement? Both?
Definitely fear was a part of it. Of not wanting to fuck it up. Not wanting to tarnish a legacy that I loved. Not even that other people loved. It was the fear of tarnishing a legacy that I personally loved from the time that I was 11 years old. It definitely was scary. To this day, I'm still scared of that.
“We called it summer camp. No one was a problem. We had a great time. And we enjoyed death.”
Your co-star, Teo [Briones] said he thought it was the best one. I've actually seen a couple outlets lean over to that opinion, too. Personally, I think it might be. I think it's a really perfect installment. I can’t imagine someone seeing it and wanting more. It feels complete. It feels bigger than all the other ones in a way. This is what a Final Destination feels like in 2025, 14 years after the last one.
It’s always interesting to me when there’s two directors. In this case Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein. What's that dynamic like? What’s the vibe on set?
It was wild, because I had never really done that before. The weirdest thing was that the movie I’d done right before that called LowLifes was with two directors. So, at that point, I was used to it. Also, if you’ve never seen LowLifes—go see that. It’s like a reverse deliverance. On Tubi.
Oh, I love a good Tubi stream.
Dude, I'll say this. Teo said that our Final Destination was the best. I'll say this. That’s the best Tubi movie that’s ever been, okay? Great film. You’ll love it–it flips that whole deliverance thing on its head. Back to what you were saying–two directors–Zach and Adam, did an incredible job with doing that.
There would be times that I don't know how they did it, but I suppose they've worked together for a few years now as the two of them together. It was sort of like a mind meld between the two of them. They would know when one of them needed to step in, and when the other would step out. It's like you’re dealing with one person with two different faces. One would come in, the other would go away. If I had a big scene, maybe Adam would come in, and when he was in, I wouldn't see Zach anymore. It was clearly Adam's time to direct it. Then another scene, it would be Zach who would come in, and then I wouldn't see Adam anymore. It felt like there were two different faces of one director, and they were incredible at it.
That’s so fascinating. It does happen often, you have the Coen brothers and the Duffer Brothers but I was so curious about what that was like on set. I love this visual image you just painted of how one would fade away–It's kind of cinematic.
Something I thought when watching the movie was how close knit this family is. Everyone lives in the same house, we're all getting along. Was that something that was spoken about on set when filming? Was that a vibe that directors wanted to evoke? It just felt like there was really no evil going on outside of this looming death happening. Which is a total hallmark of the franchise, but it stood out to me with this one.
Death is the main character. We can all agree with that. We're all rooting for death, even if we care about our characters, which we hope that people do care about our characters. I'm not dumb enough to think that they would ever root for us over rooting for death. You want death to win over all of us. There's no evil between the characters. We called it summer camp. No one was a problem. We had a great time. And we enjoyed death.
“For me, the slasher genre and the random killer that’s behind the mask will forever be the scariest thing to me, because it is so real.”
One thing I also loved about your character. I mean, everyone loved your character in the theater–the crowd was roaring. You almost came to expect something slightly inappropriate, and definitely funny was going to happen with this guy.
I thought it was interesting to me how with the first death scare in the tattoo shop, we're able to see his phone screen, and you see his phone screensaver with his dad. It felt to me that in the world of the film, that had been there for a while–not just put there after the funeral. I’m wondering if that was a callback to your character at all. He’s the guy with all these tattoos and on paper he might be this rough guy, but he’s as softy at the end of the day.
I'm glad you noticed that he is a bit of a softy. That's kind of what I wanted to bring to him. Because I know, I know Final Destination. I know these characters. I know that we've done this type of character before.There's the punk one, there's the pretty girl, there's this, there's that, and they're all sort of stereotypes of a horror character–which there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s with the tattoos. He has all that. But above all else, the most important thing to this character is family. He loves his family. And I think that shows throughout the movie. He cares about it so much. And I wanted to add that sliver. And I'm really, really happy you knew that also.
That's brilliant. I really felt like it was a story about relationships–when you strip everything away, it's all about relationships. So this is a little deeper. Are you personally scared of death?
So I think what I'm focused on is not being afraid of death. I think I'm just focused on enjoying my life as much as l possibly can, until it's one day, like Tony Todd says in the movie– you cannot outrun your fate. One day it'll be gone and that'll be okay.
Do you believe in fate? Do you fear fate?
I don't know if I believe in fate. I believe that you can change fate. I believe that you can do whatever you want to do and change the outcome for yourself. I don't think I fear fate.
In addition to Matthew Lillaird, which we’ve both established we love–are there any performances in horror that have stuck with you?
I mean, yeah–how much time do you have? For Horror specifically, Jack Nicholson in The Shining. For sure. “I’m not going to hurt you… I’m just going to bash your brains in! I’m going to bash them right the fuck in!” There’s so many. The lead in The Babadook. She was incre-di-ble. The kid was incredible too. Never had I wanted to bash someone’s brain more than I did watching that.
“I think what I’m focused on is not being afraid of death. I think I’m just focused on enjoying my life as much as l possibly can.”
[Laughs] This poor kid being terrorized by his mom–and the dog–rest in peace to the dog. I think The Babadook is underrated. It’s impressive watching these kids in these roles. They’re living and breathing this stuff and it’s not real. But they’re evoking lots of feelings from those watching.
Kids are an interesting thing, especially for acting. Sometimes I feel like it's easier for them than it is for adults. And sometimes I think it's harder. I don't know where I stand on it. I think for kids, they're so open to emotion. They cry at the drop of the hat and they have all these things that they just can't hold back. I feel for me, it seems like it might be easier for kids. Whereas adults, we hold all these emotions back and it's hard for us to let it out. But also, for a kid to know what they’re doing–I was a child actor and when I started I was shit. That goes to show, maybe it isn't easy, because I was horrible when I was acting as a kid. It took me a long time to learn what I know today. Some kids just come in and they ace it right off the bat, and that’s incredible.
Super. Last Question—what’s a one sentence horror story that pertains to your life?
I wake up fully rested, when I had to be at work at 5am.
This interview has been edited and condensed