[Trending News] Ed Harris ‘Couldn’t Forget’ His Former Roommate, Who Lost Limbs in Combat, While Playing a Veteran in New Movie: ‘His Pain Was So Deep’ (Exclusive)

Ed Harris found himself reflecting on a chapter from his past while preparing for his latest role.

The 74-year-old actor and filmmaker portrays an emotionally closed-off army veteran in his new film My Dead Friend Zoe and says that when preparing for the role, he couldn’t help but think back to his time living with a former roommate.

“In the early ’70s, I lived with a fellow who had lost his right arm and left limb in combat,” Harris recalls to PEOPLE. “He was a mechanic and I worked with him in his gas station, and he was suffering. He had left his wife and kids, he was drinking a lot. We spent a lot of time together.”

Harris says that his roommate’s suffering left a deep impression on him. “His pain was so deep, and you just can’t forget that,” he explains. “It’s just part of you. You understand something. I couldn’t help but think back on those days.”

Along with the memory of his former roommate, Harris says another man played a significant role in his decision to take on the film, which counts Travis Kelce as an executive producer.

“What inspired me was Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, the director and the writer of the movie,” the actor shares. “I met with him and he talked to me about his own experiences in combat and how he lost two of his buddies when he came back to the States who killed themselves. He wanted to make this film to save lives.” 

He continues, “It was a really good script, an interesting character and I really wanted to work with this man, a first-time director. I think I was the first person cast in the film and I said, ‘Yeah, man, let’s do it. I want to help you do this.’ ”

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Though this is Harris’ first collaboration with Hausmann-Stokes, it’s not his first time portraying a veteran. “I did one film called Jacknife where I got to know a lot of the vets, Vietnam vets who were in a VFW post in Naga Tuck, Connecticut,” Harris recalls. “I spent a lot of time with those guys and really got a sense of how they were dealing with their own experiences individually.”

Working alongside Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays Merit — his granddaughter struggling with PTSD after losing her best friend in combat — made the experience even more rewarding for Harris.

“She was just so committed to playing this character and she had worked so hard in preparation,” he says of Martin-Green, who starred alongside him and Morgan Freeman in the film.

Harris adds, “And so it was a really good experience because when you’re working with actors who give a damn and who are totally committed and who are really good at what they do, it just brings everything to another level. It just heightens your own experience and you just want to give it your best shot. And so you do.”

My Dead Friend Zoe isn’t the only film of Harris’ that is debuting in theaters on Feb. 28. The actor also stars as an ex-criminal in the upcoming comedy Riff Raff, alongside Jennifer Coolidge, Pete Davidson, Bill Murray and Gabrielle Union. “The director, Dito Montiel, sent me the script and it was fun, it was a good character, and, I mean, Jennifer was attached.”

Harris is excited for viewers to experience both films, especially after watching his performance in the war comedy. “I thought it worked and it made me laugh and I was emotional and I always thought it was powerful and I thought Kyle really achieved what he wanted to,” he says. “I’m very proud to be a part of it.”

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.