After four decades in the spotlight,Mark Harmonhas mastered the keys to his successful career — and credits them to one of the most influential people in his life: his father.
“My dad taught me, if it’s not true, don’t worry about it,” theNCISstar tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.
“I come from working stock, and I’m proud of that. You have to get up every day and just try hard,” says Harmon, 67. “That’s what I still wake up willing to do: try my hardest.”
Art Streiber
Tom was a college star who went on to play two seasons in the NFL and Harmon followed in his footsteps, playing quarterback and eventually starting for UCLA.
“I’m a practice guy, a repetition guy,” he says. “You can tell me I can’t do something, but I’m likely to take that as incentive to prove you wrong. I’m a tough guy, I’m a jock, so you can yell at me all day long, and that won’t hurt me — I’m just going to try to get better. In this business I’ve used that to my advantage.”
Although Harmon’s dad died suddenly at age 70 when the star was just 38, the longtime actor continues to follow the profound advice that Tom imparted.
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In 1986, Harmon, who shares two sons — Sean, 30, and Ty, 26 — with his wife of 31 years, actress Pam Dawber, was namedPEOPLE’s second-ever Sexiest Man Alive.
“Oh, it isn’t that I hate it, really,” Harmon says with a sly grin about the the honorable title. “It’s just that I’m not about to take it seriously. And let’s just say I think maybe a few too many people have.”
But fame doesn’t faze the the notoriously private actor.
Rather, it’s honed a deep sense of gratitude in the father of two — and a pushed him to be better at his craft each day.
“This choice, this career, requires you to be all in. Your job is to be prepared for the opportunity — it will come, you just won’t know when,” he says.
“So until then, all you can do is invest in yourself,” the star advises. “I’ve always worked hard, I’ve always tried to pay attention to the little things — but here’s the real secret:there are no little things.”
“I’m a lucky guy,” he says, “but you earn luck.”
source: people.com
