Music Videos
John C. Reilly Channels Divine Madness in Jack White’s “Archbishop Harold Holmes” Music Video
John C. Reilly has always had range—from Boogie Nights to Step Brothers to his latest musical alter ego, Mister Romantic. But now, he’s diving into a surreal new role as Archbishop Harold Holmes, the electric, sermon-slinging character at the heart of Jack White’s newest music video.
The recently released video for White’s No Name single “Archbishop Harold Holmes” is a bizarre, bluesy blend of gospel theater and electric psychedelia—and Reilly’s performance is nothing short of divine chaos.
Directed by Gilbert Trejo and co-conceptualized by John C. Reilly himself, the Archbishop Harold Holmes music video features the actor lip-syncing to Jack White’s gritty vocals from the altar of a Los Angeles church. Dressed in full preacher garb, John C. Reilly delivers a sermon like no other, shouting celestial rhymes as neon blue lightning bolts explode from his hands. The visuals blur the line between revival meeting and supernatural fever dream.
“God spoke to me,” Jack White croons, “Said, ‘Listen to me, I anoint you with the power that’ll get ’em all movin’.” John C. Reilly, channeling this divine transmission, performs it with manic conviction.
This isn’t Reilly’s first musical venture. Earlier this year, he debuted his heartfelt project “What’s Not to Love?” under the persona Mister Romantic. The album, which tells the story of a hopeless romantic chasing love and meaning in a jaded world, was met with critical acclaim, alongside a theatrical supper-club-style tour that blended cabaret, pantomime, and jazz into a quirky emotional showcase.
“I looked at our weary world a few years ago and tried to think of a way I could spread love and empathy,” Reilly explained. “So the emotional vaudeville show Mister Romantic was born—out of both hope and despair.”
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Now, teaming up with Jack White—who’s long blurred the lines between genre, mythology, and musical experimentation—feels like a match made in rock ‘n’ roll heaven. White, always a master of reinvention, allows Reilly to inhabit this chaotic archbishop character fully, breathing a twisted kind of holiness into the track.
“Archbishop Harold Holmes” is just the latest example of White’s genre-bending artistry. Reilly’s wild-eyed performance adds a theatrical, almost spiritual energy to the blues-rock banger, turning what could’ve been just another music video into a full-blown gospel-psychedelic experience.
Whether preaching from the altar or crooning love songs in a velvet suit, John C. Reilly continues to surprise and impress as one of entertainment’s most versatile performers. And with Jack White pulling the strings, this latest performance is one hell of a sermon.
