Barney Harris

**Barney Harris** is a British actor who portrayed Mat Cauthon in Season 1 of Prime Video's *The Wheel of Time*.

Harris did not return to portray Mat Cauthon for the last two episodes of season 1, and Dónal Finn was cast to portray Mat beginning in season 2. The reasons for the recasting have not been officially revealed.

## Overview

Prior to *The Wheel of Time*, Harris was best known for portraying Ned in *The Hollow Crown* (2016), Sykes in *Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk* (2016), Yehud in *Starboy* (2019), and Barney in *Clique* (2018).

Harris's casting as Mat Cauthon was announced on August 14, 2019.

After production was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris did not return to set in September 2020 and was subsequently recast. For three years after departing *The Wheel of Time*, Harris did not appear in any new projects. He returned to acting in 2023 for the film *Magpie* which wrapped production in June 2023.

## Credits

* *The Wheel of Time* TV series
	+ Season 1 - Mat Cauthon

## Recasting

Harris filmed the first six episodes as Mat Cauthon before production was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When production resumed, Harris did not return. The ending of episode 6 was modified so that Mat did not enter the Ways with the group. Harris as Mat appears briefly in episode 8, reusing footage of him from episode 5.

In September 2021, before the premiere of season 1, it was reported that Harris would not be returning as Mat Cauthon for season 2, with Dónal Finn replacing him in the role. The reasons for Harris not returning to set and for the recasting have not been officially revealed.

On January 4, 2022, *Small Screen* incorrectly reported that the reason Harris left had to do with the production's COVID-19 policy, stating that "Harris didn't want to get vaccinated." However, Harris did not return to filming in September 2020, and the first emergency use authorization for the vaccine wasn't given until months later in December 2020, so refusing to get vaccinated could not have been the reason since none of the cast could be vaccinated prior to the vaccination becoming available. In November 2022, *Small Screen* deleted the article and published a new article speculating on possible reasons for Harris's departure, without mentioning vaccination as a possibility. Despite the claim being debunked, the misinformation continues to be spread by other sites and users online.

## Quotes

> Mat is probably seen as the sort of light relief of the books and of the series, but he's much more complicated. I think his inner monologue is very much like, "I'm a bad person. I don't deserve this." Something to do with maybe the poverty that he has, and the ideas of reincarnation, and the stuff you don't agree with have coming into the fore. So yeah, he sees himself as quite a bad person, but his actions are always good. Mat's relationship with Rand is like they've grown up together, they've known each other since they were kids, and they're very banterous with each other. I think I see [Rand] as quite stubborn and quite serious all the time, which [Mat finds] quite irritating, I think [Mat finds] them both irritating, I'm not sure why [Mat] is friends with either of them. But they're loyal and loving and good friends to [Mat].
>
> Barney Harris, *IGN*, October 29, 2021

> It’s always hard, but we’re really lucky that Barney is so great in the first season; I love him in the show.
>
> Rafe Judkins on the recasting, November 10, 2021

> **Graeme Guttmann**For my last question, are you guys able -- I was curious, what led to the recasting of Mat Cauthon? If you guys are able to comment on that?**Marigo Kehoe**We can't actually talk about it. We loved working with Barney, and we wish him well.**Graeme**Yeah, he was great in the first three episodes.**Marigo**Yeah, he's great. We're very excited for the fans to see Dónal in the role. We've already had him playing Mat in the new series, and he's fantastic.— Producer Marigo Kehoe on the recasting, *Screenrant*, November 13, 2021

## Gallery

### Video

Amazon's The Wheel of Time- Who Are Moiraine and Rand? - IGN FirstOctober 29, 2021
## Trivia

* Barney Harris and Sophie Okonedo both worked on *The Hollow Crown*, where Okonedo played the mother of Harris's character.

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## External links

* Barney Harris at the Internet Movie Database

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Deadline*. 'The Wheel Of Time': Dónal Finn To Play Mat Cauthon In Recasting On Amazon Series As Barney Harris Not Returning For Season 2. September 20, 2021.
2. ↑ Twitter: “It was about a hero who insisted with every breath that he was anything but a hero.” @BarneyHarriso as Mat Cauthon #WoTWednesday #TwitterOfTime August 14, 2019.
3. ↑ *Deadline*, Cornish Folk Horror Starring ‘The Witcher’ Breakout Emma Appleton Wraps Production, First Look Revealed by Zac Ntim, June 21, 2023.
4. ↑ *Small Screen*: Barney Harris Fired From The Wheel Of Time – Here’s Why (archived) by Edward Lauder. January 4, 2022. Excerpt: "According to the insider, Harris didn’t want to get vaccinated which might have been a problem for filming a second season. Here’s what our source had to say on the matter: 'It all had to do with Covid vaccines. Amazon has a very strict policy on making sure their sets are Covid-free zones.'"
5. ↑ *U.S. Department of Health & Human Services*: COVID-19 Vaccine Milestones December 11, 2020.
6. ↑ *Reuters*: Czech Republic starts coronavirus vaccine rollout. December 26, 2020.
7. ↑ Summary of the Public Assessment Report for COVID-19 Vaccine Pfizer/BioNTech. Relevant portion: "A marketing authorisation was granted for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (Comirnaty) following a European Commission (EC) decision on 21 December 2020 (PLGB 53632/0002)."
8. ↑ *Small Screen*, Why Did Barney Harris Leave The Wheel Of Time? (archived) by Edward Lauder. November 25, 2022.
9. ↑ Example: *Otakukart*, Why Did Barney Harris Leave Wheel of Time? by Ranjita Paul, October 10, 2022. "it has been rumored that Barney Harris left Wheel of Time after he was allegedly removed after the actor did not want to get vaccinated against COVID-19."
10. ↑ Example: *Just Jared*, 'Wheel of Time' Season 2 First Look Gives Fans First Look at New Mat After Barney Harris Exits Show, October 8, 2022. "Despite no official statement being made, some outlets have reported that Barney‘s departure was due to the COVID-19 vaccine. According to *Small Screen*, Barney was allegedly fired because he didn’t want to get vaccinated against the pandemical virus. “It all had to do with Covid vaccines. Amazon has a very strict policy on making sure their sets are Covid-free zones,” a source assumedly shared with the site."
11. ↑ Example: comment on /LOTR\_on\_Prime Reddit: "Mat's actor refused to take a COVID vaccine at the height of the pandemic when production returned for Episodes 7 and 8, and the health and safety of the crew came first for Amazon." December 2, 2022.
12. ↑ *Deadline*, ‘The Wheel Of Time’ Boss Says Dónal Finn Taking Over As Mat Cauthon Will Be “Seamless”, Sees Series Going Eight Seasons by Rosy Cordero, November 10, 2021.
13. ↑ *Screenrant* video interview with Marigo Kehoe and Mike Weber, November 13, 2021.