Jason Isaacs: Difference between revisions
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|occupation = Actor |
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'''Jason Isaacs''' (born 6 June 1963) is an |
'''Jason Isaacs''' (born 6 June 1963) is an British-American actor.<ref name=Rees3>{{cite news|author=Jasper Rees|title='There is a streak of cruelty in me': Actor Jason Isaacs Says Life Prepared Him to Become a Specialist in Unattractive Characters|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]], Review|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/01/27/baisaacs127.xml|date=27 January 2007|accessdate=27 June 2008|quote=The way he tells it, Isaacs's career is a "big mistake". He grew up in [[Liverpool]], then London, then LA, then went to [[Bristol University]] to study law and felt uneasy among peers 'who all sounded like Hugh Grant', because he himself had a speech impediment. He signed up for the "drama" society when he saw an audition for a part with 'Northern accent required'. Little did he know, it was a set-up and he was not, in fact, auditioning for a play, but instead signing up to the International Imposters Association (IIA). He applied to drama school with no intention of actually going, according to his friends. But the rather "stern" person who offered him a place at [[Central School of Speech and Drama]] in London took umbrage at his vacillation. He said, "This is a vacation. If you're not interested, tell me now." Isaacs replied: "I am so ''English'' and too embarrassed to tell the truth".' }}</ref> He is known for his "performance" as the Death Eater [[Death Eater#Lucius Malfoy|Lucius Malfoy]] in the ''[[Harry Potter (film series)|Harry Potter]]'' films, the brutal Colonel William Tavington in [[The Patriot (2000 film)|''The Patriot'']] and as lifelong criminal Michael Caffee in the [[Television in the United States|American television]] series ''[[Brotherhood (Showtime)|Brotherhood]]''.<ref name=Marx>{{cite news|author=Rebecca Flint Marx|title=Jason Isaacs: Biography|url=http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/jason-isaacs/1802996/biography|work=[[Allmovie]]|work=[[Moviefone]]|accessdate=29 June 2008|quote=Although he first became interested in acting in part because 'it was a great way to meet girls,' Isaacs soon found deeper meaning in the theatre (in one interview he was quoted as saying 'I could release myself into acting in a way that I was not released socially') and duly dropped out of Bristol to hone his skills at London's [[Central School of Speech and Drama]].}}</ref> Though most of his work has been in film and television, it also includes stage performances; most notably as Louis Ironson in [[Declan Donnellan]]'s 1992 and 1993 [[Royal National Theatre]] London premières of Parts One (''Millennium Approaches'') and Two (''Perestroika'') of [[Tony Kushner]]'s [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning play ''[[Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes]]'',<ref name=NTArchive>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/South20Bank2019921995+9789.twl|title=NT: Archive: Stage by Stage: 1992–1995|work=[[Royal National Theatre]]|publisher=nationaltheatre.org.uk|accessdate=25 June 2008}}</ref> and as Ben, one of two hitmen, playing opposite [[Lee Evans (comedian)|Lee Evans]] as Gus, in Harry Burton's 2007 critically acclaimed 50th-anniversary revival of Nobel Laureate [[Harold Pinter]]'s 1957 [[two-hander]] ''[[The Dumb Waiter]]'' at [[Trafalgar Studios]].<ref name=Friedman>{{cite news|author=Sonia Friedman Productions|title=Dumb Waiter Limited Run|url=http://www.soniafriedman.com/news_press_releases/dumb_waiter_limited_run|work=Sonia Friedman Productions press release|date=3 January 2007|accessdate=23 June 2008|quote=Strictly limited run: [[Lee Evans (comedian)|Lee Evans]] and Jason Isaacs to star in major revival of Harold Pinter's ''[[The Dumb Waiter]]'' directed by Harry Burton ... To coincide with the play's 50th anniversary....}}</ref><ref name=Rees>{{cite news|author=Jasper Rees|title='There is a streak of cruelty in me': Actor Jason Isaacs Says Life Prepared Him to Become a Specialist in Unattractive Characters|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]], Review|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20081207142331/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/01/27/baisaacs127.xml|date=27 January 2007|accessdate=18 March 2012|quote=The more cheery and pliant of the two [Gus] is played by [[Lee Evans (comedian)|Lee Evans]], the more menacing [Ben] by Isaacs. Characteristically. 'Far from what you would think,' [Isaacs] says, 'Lee is the one who went to art school and is familiar with [[Samuel Beckett|Beckett]] and [[Harold Pinter|Pinter]]. I wasn't going to do this until I read it. It is crackingly funny. I realised how much of a debt [[Quentin Tarantino|Tarantino]] owes. The Pinter scholars can go off and discuss whatever they like in dusty rooms, but Lee and I and Harry Burton, the director, are trying to come up with something really engaging and exciting. It's never been more relevant. The whole play exists on this undercurrent of fear and paranoia. It's a very scary time to live in the world, and these two guys are in a room scared and working out what to do about it.' }}</ref><ref name=Ansdell>{{cite news|author=Caroline Ansdell|title=Review Round-up: Critics Find Waiter Not So Dumb.}}</ref> He starred in the [[NBC|National Broadcasting Company]] (NBC) drama ''[[Awake (TV series)|Awake]]'' as Detective [[Michael Britten]] from March to May 2012. |
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==Early life and education== |
==Early life and education== |
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Jason Isaacs | |
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Isaacs in July 2011 | |
Born | Liverpool, Lancashire, England | 6 June 1963
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1989–present |
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
Jason Isaacs (born 6 June 1963) is an British-American actor.[1] He is known for his "performance" as the Death Eater Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, the brutal Colonel William Tavington in The Patriot and as lifelong criminal Michael Caffee in the American television series Brotherhood.[2] Though most of his work has been in film and television, it also includes stage performances; most notably as Louis Ironson in Declan Donnellan's 1992 and 1993 Royal National Theatre London premières of Parts One (Millennium Approaches) and Two (Perestroika) of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes,[3] and as Ben, one of two hitmen, playing opposite Lee Evans as Gus, in Harry Burton's 2007 critically acclaimed 50th-anniversary revival of Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter's 1957 two-hander The Dumb Waiter at Trafalgar Studios.[4][5][6] He starred in the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) drama Awake as Detective Michael Britten from March to May 2012.
Early life and education
Jason Isaacs was born on 6 June 1963, in Liverpool, to Jewish parents. His father was a jewellery-maker.[7] Isaacs spent his earliest childhood years in an "insular" and "closely knit" Jewish community of Liverpudlians, of which his Eastern European great-grandparents were founder-members in leafy Liverpool suburb, Childwall.[8] The third of four sons,[2] Isaacs attended a Jewish school and a cheder twice a week as a young adult.[9][10] When he was 11, he moved with his family to Northwest London, attending the Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, in Elstree, Hertsmere, Hertfordshire, where he was in the same year as film reviewer Mark Kermode.[9] He describes his childhood as "preparation" for portraying the "unattractive", villainous characters whom he has most often played.[11] National Front members frequently harassed Isaacs and his friends throughout the 1970s and 1980s.[11][12]
Following his more traditionally inclined brothers, who became respectively a doctor, a lawyer, and an accountant,[2] Isaacs studied law at Bristol University (1982–85), but he became more actively involved in the drama society, eventually performing in over 30 plays and performing each summer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, first with Bristol University and then, twice, with the National Student Drama Company. After graduating from Bristol he went immediately to train at London's Central School of Speech and Drama (1985–88).[1][2][13]
Isaacs' parents eventually repatriated to Israel.[9]
Career
After completing his training as an actor, Isaacs almost immediately began appearing on the stage and on television; his film debut was in a minor role as a doctor in Mel Smith's The Tall Guy (1989).[13] He was initially known as a TV actor in the UK, with starring roles in the ITV drama Capital City (1989) and the BBC drama Civvies (1992) and guest roles in series such as Taggart, Inspector Morse, and Highlander: The Series (1993).[13] He also played Michael Ryan in ITV1's adaptation of Martina Cole's novel Dangerous Lady, directed by Jack Woods and produced by Lavinia Warner, in 1995.
On stage he portrayed the "emotionally waffling"[13] gay Jewish office temp Louis Ironson in Tony Kushner's Pulitzer-Prize-winning Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, at the Royal National Theatre, in its London première, performing the role in both parts, Part One: Millennium Approaches, in 1992, and Part Two: Perestroika, in 1993.[3] When auditioning for that role, he told the producers, "Look, I play all these tough guys and thugs and strong, complex characters. In real life, I am a cringing, neurotic Jewish mess. Can't I for once play that on stage?"[10]
His first Hollywood role was alongside Laurence Fishburne in the film Event Horizon in 1997, in which he played a crew member ultimately killed by the protagonist-turned-antagonist acted by Sam Neill. Subsequently, he appeared in the Bruce Willis blockbuster Armageddon (1998).[13] Initially called upon to take a fairly substantial role, Isaacs was eventually cast in a much smaller capacity as a planet-saving scientist so that he could accommodate his commitment to Divorcing Jack (1998), a comedy thriller he was making with David Thewlis.[2]
After portraying a priest opposite Julianne Moore and Ralph Fiennes in Neil Jordan's acclaimed adaptation of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair (1999), Isaacs played the charismatic honourable priest opposite Kirsty Alley in the mini series The Last Don. He then shone as "memorable" villain, Colonel William Tavington, in Roland Emmerich's Revolutionary War fictional film epic The Patriot (2000).[13] Starring opposite Mel Gibson as the film's hero, and Heath Ledger as Gibson's screen son, Isaacs portrays a sadistic British army officer who kills Ledger's character, among many other soldiers.[13][14] Although his work in the film earned him comparisons to Ralph Fiennes' portrayal of Nazi Amon Göth in Schindler's List (1993) and mention of a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, reaching beyond being typecast as an historical villain, Isaacs chose to play a drag queen in his next project, Sweet November (2001), a romantic comedy-drama starring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves.[2]
Isaacs has appeared in many other films, most notably as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series of films (2002–2011). Regarding the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, Isaacs has said: "I went off and read the books after the audition and I read the first four books in one sitting – you know – didn't wash, didn't eat, drove around with them on the steering wheel like a lunatic. I suddenly understood why my friends, who I'd thought were slightly backward, had been so addicted to these children's books. They're like crack."[citation needed] In "The Naked and the Dead", an article published in the San Francisco Chronicle, on 26 November 2006, Neva Chonin names the character Lucius Malfoy one of the 12 "Sexiest Men Who Were Never Alive" and Isaacs one of the 13 "Sexiest Men Who Are Real and Alive".[15]
Prior to the making of the film, when asked whether or not he would be in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Isaacs replied, "I hope so – you'll have to ask David (producer David Heyman). I can't bear the idea that somebody else would get to wear my Paris Hilton wig, but you never know."[16] Isaacs also talked to J.K. Rowling on the inclusion of Lucius Malfoy in the then unpublished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so that he would have a part in the seventh and final film: "The character does not appear in the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; but ... [Isaacs joked], 'I fell to my knees and begged ... It didn't do any good. I'm sure she doesn't need plot ideas from me. But I made my point. We'll see. Like everybody else, I'm holding my breath to July to see what's in there. I just want to bust out of prison, that's all. I don't want to stay in Azkaban most of my life.' "[17] Ultimately Isaacs did reprise the role of Malfoy as a cameo appearance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), where he is seen in a moving portrait. Afterwards, Isaacs reprised the role again in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) and Part 2 (2011).[18]
He has appeared in Dragonheart (1996), Event Horizon (1997), Black Hawk Down (2001), Jackie Chan's The Tuxedo (2002), and as George Darling and Captain Hook in P.J. Hogan's adaptation of Peter Pan (2003), and as the voice of Admiral Zhao in the animated Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005).
Isaacs played the leading role of Sir Mark Brydon, the British Ambassador to the US in the BBC Four miniseries The State Within (2006), for which he was nominated for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television for the 65th Golden Globe Awards.[19][20] On British television, he also portrayed actor Harry H. Corbett in The Curse of Steptoe, part of "a season of new one-off dramas for BBC Four revealing the stories behind some of Britain's best loved television entertainers, and their achievements," first broadcast in March 2008.[21][22] On American television, Isaacs appeared in three episodes of The West Wing in 2004, prior to developing his most notable TV serial role, as Michael Caffee in Brotherhood (2006–08).
Between 2 February and 24 March 2007, Isaacs played Ben, opposite Lee Evans (Gus), in the critically acclaimed 50th-anniversary production of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter, at Trafalgar Studios, in London, his first theatre performance since appearing in The Force of Change (2000).[4][5][6][23][24]
Isaacs played Major Briggs, an American military officer, opposite Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, in Paul Greengrass's thriller Green Zone (2010), a fictionalised drama set in Iraq after the defeat of Saddam Hussein based on the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Baghdad's Green Zone (2006), by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, for which production began in Morocco, in January 2008.[25][26]
In 2007, he was cast in Jan de Bont's then-still-upcoming film Stopping Power, to play its star John Cusack's "nemesis",[27][28] but, on 31 August 2007, Variety reported that the film, also planned for release in 2009, had been cancelled after a financial backer pulled out.[29] Isaacs appeared in one episode of the TV show Entourage in the autumn of 2008 as Fredrick Line. In 2009, he was nominated at the British Academy Television Awards for Best Actor for his role as Harry H. Corbett in The Curse of Steptoe.[30]
On the evening of 2 May 2009, Isaacs performed the role of Ben again, opposite his Brotherhood co-star (and Tony Award winner) Brian F. O'Byrne (as Gus), in a "rehearsed reading" of The Dumb Waiter.[citation needed] Their reading capped off the Harold Pinter Memorial Celebration being curated by Harry Burton (who had directed him and Evans at Trafalgar Studios). This tribute to Harold Pinter co-sponsored by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center (MESTC), of The Graduate Center of The City University of New York (CUNY), was part of the Fifth Annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, held in New York City, from 27 April to 3 May 2009.[31][32]
He provided the voice of Ra's al Ghul in the 2010 DC animated film, Batman: Under the Red Hood and also the voice of Sinestro in the 2011 DC animated film Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.
Isaacs starred as Detective Michael Britten in the NBC series Awake, which premiered on 1 March 2012, and ended in May 2012. After Britten gets into a terrible car wreck with his family, his dreams begin to take on two alternate realities, one in which his wife died in the crash and one in which his son died. Says Isaacs about the ambitious premise: “There’s no question it's challenging. We’ve got a bunch of very experienced writers who have written things from HBO shows to The X-Files, to 24 and everything in between. And they are challenged. All of them have said that it's the hardest job that they've ever had. But sometimes that's a good thing. … If it comes easily, that they could write in their sleep, I personally wouldn't want to act – and I think the audience wouldn't want to watch."[33]
In February 2014, the USA Network announced Isaacs has been cast in its upcoming action adventure drama series, Dig. Isaacs will portray an FBI agent in Jerusalem who uncovers a 2,000-year-old conspiracy while investigating an archaeologist's murder. The six-episode series is expected to premiere late-2014.[34]
Personal life
Isaacs and his wife, BBC documentary filmmaker Emma Hewitt, whom he began dating at the Central School, have been married since 1988 and have two daughters: Lily and Ruby.[2][35]
Despite Isaacs' screen celebrity as Lucius Malfoy, he maintains a relatively modest, "calm, sedate and suburban" life,[35][36] which he prefers to the "hideously compromised lives" of the more rich and famous: "I imagine like most of us that I'd like obscene amounts of money but the people I met and worked with who have those obscene amounts of money and have obscene amounts of fame have awful lives. Really. I mean hideously compromised lives...." Described as an "invisible star" who can still travel by the London Underground to film premières unrecognised, he has observed: "They just think, who's that t*** in black tie? As soon as I get on the red carpet they start screaming and screaming. ... It's laughable because when it's all over I go home on the Tube as well."[37] "I can go anywhere. No one knows who I am. I can go on the tube and bus and wander through the streets."[citation needed]
As a non-religious Jew, Isaacs has semi-jokingly called himself a "Jewish man who does almost nothing Jewish in his life".[12]
Isaacs is a firm, though not uncritical supporter of the Labour Party declaring, in April 2009: "I am huge New Labour supporter. They've done amazing things in terms of real money put into education, health service and childcare. But they've also, on this watch, done away with the right to silence, and been party to an invasion of a country based on false pretexts. They, and most of the West, have done away with the Geneva Convention... all these things have happened on my watch, but I've done absolutely nothing about it other than try to sound righteous."[38]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | The Tall Guy | Doctor No. 2 | |
1994 | Shopping | Market Trader | |
1995 | Loved Up | Dez 2 | |
1995 | Solitaire for 2 | Harry | |
1996 | Dragonheart | Lord Felton | |
1997 | Event Horizon | D.J. | |
1998 | Armageddon | Dr. Ronald Quincy, Research | |
1998 | Divorcing Jack | Cow Pat Keegan | |
1998 | Soldier | Colonel Mekum | |
1998 | St. Ives | Alain de Keroual de Saint-Yves | |
1999 | The End of the Affair | Father Richard Smythe | |
2000 | The Patriot | Colonel William Tavington | |
2001 | Sweet November | Chaz Watley | |
2001 | Black Hawk Down | US Army Ranger Captain Mike Steele | |
2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Lucius Malfoy | |
2002 | Passionada | Charles Beck | |
2002 | Resident Evil | Dr. William Birkin | Uncredited |
2002 | The Tuxedo | Clark Devlin | |
2002 | Windtalkers | Major Mellitz | |
2003 | Peter Pan | George Darling and Captain Hook | |
2003 | Nouvelle-France[citation needed] | Général James Wolfe | |
2005 | The Chumscrubber | Mr. Parker | |
2005 | Elektra | DeMarco | Uncredited |
2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Lucius Malfoy | |
2005 | Nine Lives | Damian | |
2005 | Tennis, Anyone...?[citation needed] | Johnny Green | |
2006 | Friends with Money | David | |
2007 | Grindhouse | Bearded Man | Appeared in the "faux" trailer "Don't" |
2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Lucius Malfoy | |
2008 | Good | Maurice | |
2008 | La Conjura de El Escorial | Antonio Pérez | |
2009 | Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince | Lucius Malfoy | Appears as a moving portrait |
2010 | Green Zone | Major Briggs | |
2010 | Batman: Under The Red Hood | Ra's al Ghul | Voice role |
2010 | Skeletons[citation needed] | The Colonel | |
2010 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 | Lucius Malfoy | |
2011 | Cars 2 | Siddeley and Leland Turbo | Voice roles |
2011 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 | Lucius Malfoy | |
2011 | Abduction | Kevin | |
2011 | Green Lantern: Emerald Knights | Sinestro | Voice role |
2012 | Sweet Vengeance | Prophet Josiah | aka "Sweetwater" |
2013 | Dawn[citation needed] | Dawson | Post-production |
2013 | A Single Shot | Waylon | Post-production |
2013 | Field of Lost Shoes | John C. Breckinridge | Post-production |
2014 | John Wick | Filming | |
2014 | Fury | Post-production | |
2014 | Things People Do | Frank McTiernan |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1989 | A Quiet Conspiracy[citation needed] | ||
1989 | This Is David Lander[citation needed] | French Doctor | |
1989–90 | Capital City | Chas Ewell | |
1989 | Boon[citation needed] | Mike Puckett | |
1990 | TECX[citation needed] | Edward Latham | |
1991 | Ashenden[citation needed] | Andrew Lehman | |
1991 | Eye Contact[citation needed] | Michael | |
1992 | Civvies[citation needed] | Frank Dillon | |
1992 | Inspector Morse | Dr. Desmond Collier | Episode: "Cherubim and Seraphim" |
1992 | Taggart | Eric and John Barr | Episode: "Double Exposure" |
1993 | Highlander: The Series | Immortal Zachary Blaine | Episode: "The Lady and the Tiger" |
1995 | A Relative Stranger | Peter Fairman | |
1995 | Dangerous Lady[citation needed] | Michael Ryan | |
1995 | Loved Up | Dez 2 | TV film |
1996 | Guardians[citation needed] | Jim Reid | TV film |
1996 | Burn Your Phone[citation needed] | The Killer | TV film |
1997 | The Fix | Tony Kay | TV film |
1998 | The Last Don II | Father Luca Tonarini | |
2004 | The West Wing | Colin Ayres | 3 episodes |
2005–06 | Avatar: The Last Airbender | Admiral Zhao | Voice role |
2006 | Scars | Chris | |
2006 | The State Within | Sir Mark Brydon, British Ambassador to the USA | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film |
2006–08 | Brotherhood | Michael Caffee | Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Series, Drama |
2008 | The Curse of Steptoe | Harry H. Corbett | Nominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actor |
2008 | Entourage | Fredrick Line | Episode: "No.5.7 Gotta Look Up to Get Down" |
2011–present | Case Histories | Jackson Brodie | Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television |
2012 | Awake | Michael Britten | |
2013 | The Legend of Korra | Admiral Zhao | Episode: "Darkness Falls" (Cameo) |
2014 | Rosemary's Baby | Roman Castavet | Two-part miniseries |
Theatre
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | The Black and White Minstrels | Cyril | The King's Head Theatre, London |
1992–93 | Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes[3] | Louis Ironson | Royal National Theatre, London |
1993 | 1953[citation needed] | Benito Mussolini | Almeida Theatre, London |
2000 | The Force of Change[citation needed] | Royal Court Theatre, London | |
2007 | The Dumb Waiter[24] | Ben | Trafalgar Studios, London |
Video games
Year(s) | Title | Voice |
---|---|---|
1994 | Beneath a Steel Sky | |
2009 | Napoleon: Total War[39] | Story Teller |
2010 | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow | Satan |
2011 | El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron | Lucifel |
2014 | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 | Satan |
References
- ^ a b Jasper Rees (27 January 2007). "'There is a streak of cruelty in me': Actor Jason Isaacs Says Life Prepared Him to Become a Specialist in Unattractive Characters". The Daily Telegraph, Review. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
The way he tells it, Isaacs's career is a "big mistake". He grew up in Liverpool, then London, then LA, then went to Bristol University to study law and felt uneasy among peers 'who all sounded like Hugh Grant', because he himself had a speech impediment. He signed up for the "drama" society when he saw an audition for a part with 'Northern accent required'. Little did he know, it was a set-up and he was not, in fact, auditioning for a play, but instead signing up to the International Imposters Association (IIA). He applied to drama school with no intention of actually going, according to his friends. But the rather "stern" person who offered him a place at Central School of Speech and Drama in London took umbrage at his vacillation. He said, "This is a vacation. If you're not interested, tell me now." Isaacs replied: "I am so English and too embarrassed to tell the truth".'
Cite error: The named reference "Rees3" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ a b c d e f g Rebecca Flint Marx. "Jason Isaacs: Biography". Moviefone. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
Although he first became interested in acting in part because 'it was a great way to meet girls,' Isaacs soon found deeper meaning in the theatre (in one interview he was quoted as saying 'I could release myself into acting in a way that I was not released socially') and duly dropped out of Bristol to hone his skills at London's Central School of Speech and Drama.
- ^ a b c "NT: Archive: Stage by Stage: 1992–1995". Royal National Theatre. nationaltheatre.org.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
- ^ a b Sonia Friedman Productions (3 January 2007). "Dumb Waiter Limited Run". Sonia Friedman Productions press release. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
Strictly limited run: Lee Evans and Jason Isaacs to star in major revival of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter directed by Harry Burton ... To coincide with the play's 50th anniversary....
- ^ a b Jasper Rees (27 January 2007). "'There is a streak of cruelty in me': Actor Jason Isaacs Says Life Prepared Him to Become a Specialist in Unattractive Characters". The Daily Telegraph, Review. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
The more cheery and pliant of the two [Gus] is played by Lee Evans, the more menacing [Ben] by Isaacs. Characteristically. 'Far from what you would think,' [Isaacs] says, 'Lee is the one who went to art school and is familiar with Beckett and Pinter. I wasn't going to do this until I read it. It is crackingly funny. I realised how much of a debt Tarantino owes. The Pinter scholars can go off and discuss whatever they like in dusty rooms, but Lee and I and Harry Burton, the director, are trying to come up with something really engaging and exciting. It's never been more relevant. The whole play exists on this undercurrent of fear and paranoia. It's a very scary time to live in the world, and these two guys are in a room scared and working out what to do about it.'
- ^ a b Caroline Ansdell. "Review Round-up: Critics Find Waiter Not So Dumb".
- ^ Gilbert, Gerard (18 May 2013). "'It was mass hysteria': Jason Isaacs on groupies, theatre bores and snogging James Bond". The Independent.
- ^ Naomi Pfefferman (14 July 2000). "Once a 'wimp,' Actor Thrives on Portraying Villains". Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. jewishaz.com. Retrieved 29 June 2008. Rpt. from Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, 14 July 2000.
- ^ a b c Paul Lester (1 February 2008). "JC Interview: Jason Isaacs". The Jewish Chronicle. thejc.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School ... [produced] quite a vintage crop in [Isaacs'] time: fellow pupils included Sacha Baron Cohen, David Baddiel and Matt Lucas. 'I've seen Baddiel a few times,' Isaacs says, and he sees the others occasionally at awards ceremonies.... Not all the Habs stars of the time were Jewish, though, and Isaacs has a lot of time for another alumnus, the BBC's film critic, Mark Kermode: 'He is always incredibly lovely and says hello on his Radio 5 podcasts, which I've listened to in Auschwitz and many other strange places. He's said I was too cool (at school), but he was at the epicentre of the in-crowd.'
- ^ a b Naomi Pfefferman (29 June 2000). "More Than a Villain: With "The Patriot," Jason Isaacs, a British Jew, Cements His Reputation as One of Hollywood's Hottest Heavies". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. jewishjournal.com. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
- ^ a b Jasper Rees (27 January 2007). "'There is a streak of cruelty in me': Actor Jason Isaacs Says Life Prepared Him to Become a Specialist in Unattractive Characters". The Daily Telegraph, Review. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
There is a streak of cruelty in me that comes from having a quite competitive background. There were four boys in the house and we were often pretty unkind to each other. Also, it wasn't a great thing to be a Jewish teenager when the National Front were passing leaflets around the school and attacking us where we gathered at the weekends.
- ^ a b Jewish World / Voldemort's sidekick turns Jewish psychiatrist in film on Nazi era. Haaretz. Published 21 January 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Jason Isaacs Biography". Yahoo! Movies UK & Ireland. uk.movies.yahoo.com. Copyright Baseline 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Matt Webb Mitovich (21 July 2006). "Interviews & Features: Jason Isaacs: More Than a Bad Brother". TV Guide. TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
- ^ Neva Chonin (26 November 2006). "The Naked and the Dead". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
- ^ "Exclusive: Order of the Phoenix News: The Cast Talk Harry Potter 5". Empire. 15 March 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
- ^ Cindy White (11 January 2007). "Potter V Has More Isaacs". Sci Fi Wire. scifi.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
Order of the Phoenix open[ed] July 13, [2007].
- ^ Scott Huver (25 June 2008). "Isaacs Conjures Lucius Malfoy's Return to Harry Potter". CraveOnline:Film & TV. ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
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(help) - ^ "Nominations & Winners 2008". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
- ^ Catherine Elsworth (14 January 2008). "Britons Triumph at Minimalist Golden Globes". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
- ^ Leigh Holmwood (27 November 2007). "BBC4 to Show Steptoe and Son Biopic". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
- ^ "BBC Four Unveils New Drama Season". BBC. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
- ^ Associated Press (9 February 2007). "Revival of 'The Dumb Waiter' Shows Harold Pinter's Comic Side". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
- ^ a b Michael Billington (9 February 2007). "The Dumb Waiter, Trafalgar Studios, London". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
- ^ Adam Dawtrey (3 March 2008). "Jason Isaacs Joins Greengrass Thriller: Working Title/Universal project Filming in Spain". Variety. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
- ^ Ali Jaafar (21 November 2007). "Morocco Strong, But Not the Same". Variety. Retrieved 24 June 2008. [dead link]
- ^ Jeremy Wheeler. "Stopping Power". Moviefone. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
- ^ Matt Webb Mitovich (23 August 2007). "Today's News: Our Take: At the Movies: Justin Timberlake Hits the Ice, Ice, Baby". TV Guide. tvguide.com (Blog). Retrieved 4 July 2008.
- ^ Ed Meza (31 August 2007). "De Bont's John Cusack Starrer Killed: Internationalmedia Unplugs 'Stopping Power' ". Variety. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
- ^ Collinson, Dawn (6 April 2009). "Actor Jason Isaacs on why he's not taking his Bafta nomination too seriously". Liverpool Daily Post.co.uk. Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales Limited. ISSN 0307-2037. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
- ^ "Events: PEN World Voices Festival: Harold Pinter Memorial Celebration: Updated Schedule". PEN World Voices Festival: The New York Festival of International Literature. Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). 29 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
- ^ Cf. "May 2, 2009: Tribute to Harold Pinter". The Fifth Annual PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, 27 April – 3 May 2009. PEN American Center. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
- ^ "Jason Isaacs on his new NBC series, "Awake"". channelguidemag.com. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ Jason Isaacs to Star in USA Network International Thriller 'Dig'
- ^ a b Paul Lester (1 February 2008). "JC Interview: Jason Isaacs". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
Luckily, Isaacs gets to relax at home in North-West London with Emma Hewitt, his wife of 20 years, and his two young daughters, Lily and Remy. There, his life is 'calm, sedate and suburban'. ... Isaacs admits his attachment to his roots has loosened over the years. 'Because I've been lucky enough to play so many parts and live in so many countries, I feel rootless. The club I belong to is me, my wife and kids, and whatever part I'm playing. I've stripped almost all of my tribal identity out… I am what I am and proud of where I come from. But I don't feel rooted.'
- ^ "Jason Isaacs Video Interview". The London Paper. thelondonpaper.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
- ^ Jasper Rees (27 January 2007). "'There is a streak of cruelty in me': Actor Jason Isaacs Says Life Prepared Him to Become a Specialist in Unattractive Characters". The Daily Telegraph, Review. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
- ^ "Bad boy does good: Jason Isaacs' new project is all heart". The Independent. 9 April 2009.
- ^ "Napoleon: Total War – Story Trailer". TotalWar.com.
- ^ "Mark Kermode v Jason Isaacs on Johnny Depp". BBC Radio 5 Live. 16 April 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
- ^ Lester, Paul (1 February 2008). "JC interview: Jason Isaacs". The Jewish Chronicle. thejc.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
- ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (21 July 2006). "Interviews & Features: Jason Isaacs: More Than a Bad Brother". TV Guide. TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
- ^ Hootie & the Blowfish (19 December 2005). "2005 Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament Sets Record with $425,000 in Donations". Press Release. hootiegolf.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2008. ["Players: See Past Participants."]
- ^ Pfefferman, Naomi (30 June 2000). "More Than a Villain: With "The Patriot," Jason Isaacs, a British Jew, Cements His Reputation as One of Hollywood's Hottest Heavies". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. jewishjournal.com. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
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(help) - ^ "Once a 'wimp,' Actor Thrives on Portraying Villains". The Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. jewishaz.com. 14 July 2000. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
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(help) - ^ Marx, Rebecca Flint. "Jason Isaacs: Biography". Moviefone. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
External links
- Jason Isaacs at IMDb
- "Jason Isaacs Biography". Yahoo! Movies UK & Ireland. uk.movies.yahoo.com. Copyright Baseline 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
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(help)
- 1963 births
- Living people
- Male actors from London
- Male actors from Liverpool
- Alumni of the University of Bristol
- Alumni of the Central School of Speech and Drama
- English male film actors
- English male stage actors
- English male voice actors
- English male television actors
- Jewish English male actors
- People educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
- 20th-century English male actors
- 21st-century English male actors