Richard Harmon might play the (formerly) villainous John Murphey on The CW’s The 100, but if you met him in real life you will quickly see that he bares little resemblance to his character. We recently caught up with Harman at Xcon in Myrtle Beach, where he was greeting fans with open arms, and occasionally belting out a song (Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing"). Harmon opened up to us about John Murphy's redemptive path heading into Season 3, as well as the playlist he has set to get into the character. Harmon also clued us in on his love for all things Spongebob Squarepants and Bob Dylan, as well as dream role as Bullseye in Marvel and Netflix’s Daredevil.
We have said it before and we will saw again. The CW’s 100 is one of the best TV shows currently on the air, and needless to say, Richard Harmon agrees with us.
“[It’s] Unabashedly entertaining,” Harmon states, when asked what makes The 100 one of the best TV shows on the air today. “It is absolutely, without question one of the most entertaining shows on television. I’ll go on record. i’ll go on record right now saying it. It’s great, I mean, the story lines are fun.”
“I think the acting is great,” Harmon charmingly and not so modestly mugs. “The music is awesome. Everything, the sets, the clothing, everything. It’s just great. It’s just a fun show to watch.”
Harmon’s character has made his way from a very dark place in Season 1, to the a path of semi-redemption in Season 2. However, Harmon has always seen the good in Murphy.
“In my heart he never needed to be redeemed. I always loved him. I got what he was doing. I get it. I supported it from day one.”
That being said, Harmon acknowledges that Murphy didn’t come off as lovable to everyone else.
“I think in the eyes of everyone else, certainly in the first season, I didn’t think that he would ever be ‘redeemed.’ And I was fine with him not being redeemed. I am honored that people are coming around and sort of liking him now. I glad people can see what I saw, which is great.”
Fans will get to see a lot more of John Murphy in Season 3, now that Harmon has been moved up to a series regular, but just what he will be doing is still mystery, even to Richard.
“They haven’t told me anything about Season 3 yet,” Harmon says, dodging our attempts to dig up spoilers, “I don’t know anything about it other than the hologram runs it [City of Light].”
Harman is not afraid to show off his, much, softer side, clutching a plush Spongebob Squarepants ball.
“He is a role model,” Harmon says of his yellow idol. “He just loves life. Life throws terrible, terrible times at him, time and time again. He has a minimum wage job. He’s just plugging along, but he’s just happy. He’s always happy and that is something I like. I look up to him.”
“I like to believe that embody some of his qualities. I think I have a ways to go to be as good of a man as he is a sponge.”
Being more like Spongebob than he is John Murphy, Richard uses a special playlist, which he makes for each of his roles, to get into character.
“ What’s on there now? A lot of Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan is all over the place,” Murphy said of his favorite musician. “The National, because they are sad all the time. A lot of Explosions in the Sky, amazing! I got a lot of darker stuff. There is a lot of moody, sort of atmospheric stuff. Some stuff to get me pumped up. A little Beastie Boys on there to get that Murphy flair going.“
The CW is currently being taken over by superhero shows, with four series based on WB owned DC Comics properties set to air next year (iZombe, Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow). But Harmon isn’t afraid to cross company lines, as he boast about his favorite small screen hero.
“Daredevil! Easy, that show is incredible.Best Marvel movie or anything that I have seen Marvel do.”
When asked if he would like to play a hero or villain on the Netflix series, Richard mused,” You already have a good guy. Charlie Cox does such a great job. You know what, I guess I would want to be Bullseye. I’d be the bad guy.”
James Knight and Vanessa Larson.
