Harris Gets A Gong

Veteran actor Richard Harris was in a typically barnstorming mood at the European Film Awards in Paris this weekend. On stage to accept the Academy's lifetime achievement award, his reaction was typically caustic. 'Well there are two reasons I won't make a long acceptance speech,' Harris told the audience, which included the French Prime Minister. 'The first is that I speak very bad French, the second is I'm dying for a pee. I've been backstage for 20 minutes and I'm so bloody nervous.' Harris went on to explain that he didn't consider himself ready for retirement just yet. 'I assume I'm in God's departure lounge, waiting for that final plane, but luckily some of my scheduled flights have been cancelled, I'm glad to say. Mostly because I've said I'm not going to die yet. But there's still life in me yet. There's still some parts out there, some unwritten scripts I could probably have a bash at. And I'm not very expensive.' When Empire Online caught up with Harris before the ceremony, the actor said he was surprised to be recieving the award. 'I've never received an award in my life,' he told us. 'I get ignored by everybody.' He was equally scathing during the ceremony, saying, 'I want to congratulate you on choosing me which is something that the British Academy have ignored annually.' Unfortunately Harris wouldn't be drawn on the role that will make him famous to a new generation, that of Albus Dumbledore in the upcoming Harry Potter movie. 'I haven't started yet,' he told us. Is he a fan of the books? 'Yes.' So what sort of preparation had he done for the role? 'Nothing, really. I'm that type of actor,' he said. 'I work on instinct.'