“Goutsiders have always attracted me: they look at the world from the outside and do not feel part of reality like many others. As a young man I moved constantly, I had no fixed roots or stainless beliefs, and I perceived myself as an intruder, an external observer. Perhaps this is why everything for me always boils down to a single existential question: who am I? I continue to play different roles without ever understanding them, and without understanding why I did certain things or what motivated my actions at a given moment. But I recently had a revelation: “You’re getting old, Oscar, this is now a thing of the past, when you were young.” Suddenly I see my path in a different way ». Oscar Isaac is describing to me his latest acting experience in Moon Knight.
Obsessive player
You are out of the way if you think it is a suffered and fought character like Jonathan, the betrayed husband of Scenes from a wedding (the remake of the homonymous series directed by Ingmar Bergman in 1973), or of William Tell, the ambiguous protagonist of The card collector by Paul Schradera former torturer turned poker player obsessive to forget the past.
The protagonist of About Davis And Ex Machina he’s talking to me about Moon Knight – the new series on Disney + based on Marvel comics – in which he plays Steven Grant, the quiet employee of a gift shop, struck by memory lapses and memories of another life. He thus discovers he has a dissociative identity disorder and shares his body with the mercenary Marc Spector who, when the moon rises into the sky, develops superhuman powers. And he doesn’t end there: other forces and other identities come into play …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1_x31DWjuM
The duplicity of Spector
Why on earth Oscar Isaac (lately one of the most requested actors by the studios, who chase him for blockbusters like X-Men And Star Wars) threw himself into fish in this cartoon? «It is precisely the duplicity of Spector / Moon Knight that convinced me. I like everything about Steven Grant: his sincerity, his need for human relationships, not knowing himself, his sense of humor ».
In short, Isaac uses his work as an actor to self-analyze and grow as a person. “It is the magical component of the work of an actor: I like to consider myself a craftsman, I work on my character as if I were weaving a basket, and the more I grow and perfect my technique, the more I look for roles that stimulate and challenge me, above all in relation to completely different realities from mine, in terms of ethnicity, religion, history and personal experiences. It’s my big bet: to be able to step into a character like Steven Grant and make him real. “
Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain in Venice 78.
Friendship with Jessica Chastain
For the same reason he didn’t hesitate when he was offered the role of Jonathan in Scenes from a weddingwhere he returned to work with her old friend Jessica Chastain (now fresh out of an Oscar for Tammy Faye’s eyes), with whom he had studied acting in Julliard and then starred in 1981: Investigation in New York.
“That was the first film together, and since then our bond has continued to deepen, to strengthen, it is as if we both become participants in the life and experience of the other”. And he says: «I completely immersed myself in the reality of Jonathan, who wanted to believe at all costs in marriage and was convinced that he could control everything; without realizing that control does not exist, it is not real: you can pretend to have it but it is a false feeling, things can always change, and suddenly you discover a new identity ».
Identity is a word that comes up often in conversation with Isaac.
Oscar Isaac in “Moon Knight”.
Oscar Isaac: “I love Pirandello”
“Over the years the desire to become a more complete and mature human being grows. I realized that you are not defined by your actions: even if you end up in prison, it won’t be just that event that will make you who you are, “he muses aloud. “You are not defined by your thoughts (just because you have bad thoughts does not mean that you will put them into practice) and not even from your body, your disability or a defect because you are not your body. And if you are not defined by your actions, your thoughts, your body, so who the hell are you? Finally, who am I? I definitely want to be a good, decent person, who treats others fairly, who is there for family and friends. I don’t want to be vain or too ambitious. Here, the characters I bring onto the stage have to do with reality that is shattered and for this reason they have to find a new identity ».
It is no coincidence that his favorite author is Luigi Pirandello, and the work that most inspired him is Six characters in search of an author: reality is contradictory, impossible to interpret or define.
Oscar Isaac in “Moon Knight” (photo Gabor Kotschy. © Marvel Studios).
“I’m a pagan”
The story of Oscar Isaac, unlike many of his characters, has little magic, superhuman or esoteric: years and years of serious work, commitment. It is that of an outsider who has achieved success without compromise.
Born in Guatemala to a Guatemalan mother and Cuban father, raised in Miami in a deeply believing family, he began to gain experience in religious dramas. He soon moved away from the church (“I’m a pagan” he explains) and focused on music: in the early 2000s, after a series of experiences ranging from grunge rock to heavy metal, he joined the band Blinking Underdogs. But the theater remained a constant presence: he continued to act in state college, then in a small company in Miami and – when on impulse he showed up for an audition at the prestigious Julliard School in New York – was immediately accepted.
Precisely this dual passion for music and theater then happily took shape in the musician’s interpretation of About Davisdirected by the Coen brothers in 2013. Today, at 43, he has a real star booklet. He will soon be the voice of Miguel O’Hara in the animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and, if all goes as planned, it will be part of Megalopoliswhich marks Francis Ford Coppola’s great return to cinema.
Oscar Isaac in About Davis
No more panic
Yet, after years of non-stop work, Oscar Isaac is confident that it is also time to stop. “In the last few months, I’ve been taking it easy, I’ve decided not to jump from one set to another, and I’ve finally overcome the panic I once had when I wasn’t sure that a project was waiting for me around the corner. I feel incredibly free not to follow that routine anymore and instead have some time to reflect, to devote to my inner life. Before, I was there alone and always to get busy, to “produce” one character after another ».
Does this choice also have to do with being a father of two children?
“Almost everything to do with that,” he replies vehemently. “I have two children and – you know – they grow up so fast… I want to spend time with them, I want to be home. My wife (the Danish Elvira Lind, met in 2013 on the set of About Davis and mother of his children, Eugene and Mads, aged 5 and 3, ed) is a film-maker and for a long time he followed me everywhere. Now it’s time to give her space. She too has to do her things. ‘
He smiles and greets me affectionately, as if we were old friends.
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