John Hannah makes cowardice funny without making the coward disposable. We rate his comic precision, especially in company, and his work in romance and harsher television drama gives good reason to look beyond the jokes.
Fi1m perspective
In The Mummy (1999), John Hannah's Jonathan Carnahan seems to have given cowardice considerable thought and decided to stick with it. He plays the sponging brother of Rachel Weisz's Evelyn, joining Brendan Fraser's Rick O'Connell on the expedition without acquiring much of his courage. We laughed because Hannah makes the fear seem habitual, rather than something switched on whenever the script needs a joke. He gives us reason to enjoy having this unreliable man around.
Director Stephen Sommers helps by keeping the three actors together in the frame, so that Jonathan's evasiveness can sit beside Rick's bravery and Evelyn's capable clumsiness. We find Hannah most rewarding here because he does not have to supply all the comedy himself. The writing is less reliable, too willing to offer a shrug in place of a joke. That limits the film's pleasures, though the three leads remain good company. We would happily spend another evening with them, while reserving the right to complain about the dialogue.
The earlier parts resist any suggestion that comedy was all he had to offer. His breakthrough was Matthew in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), followed by the romantic lead James Hamilton opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors (1998). Television then gave him lead roles in Rebus (2000–2001) and, as Batiatus, Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010). The latter's ruthlessness is some distance from Jonathan's habitual retreat, though both parts give Hannah men whose behaviour need not be admirable to be watchable. We would be wary of treating the lighter work as a detour from the serious business of acting.
His Dr Newman in The Last of Us (2023) is another supporting part, in a patient horror-drama led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. We rate that series highly, but it is not where we would begin an evening devoted to Hannah. Start with The Mummy for the company. Leave Spartacus: Blood and Sand for an evening when cowardice seems too mild a failing.
Biography
John Hannah (born 23 April 1962) is a Scottish actor and narrator. He came to prominence with his role as Matthew in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
His film credits include Sliding Doors (1998), The Hurricane (1999), and the role of Jonathan Carnahan in The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001) and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008). On television he has played Quintus Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus (2010–2011), Dr Holden Radcliffe in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016–2017) and Dr Neuman in The Last of Us (2023).
