Oscar Isaac
Oscar Isaac
Oscar Isaac is a Guatemalan American actor and musician. He is known for his lead film roles in the comedy-drama Inside Llewyn Davis, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination, the crime drama A Most Violent Yearand the science fiction thriller Ex Machina. In 2006 he portrayed Joseph, husband of Mary, in The Nativity Story. He also portrayed José Ramos-Horta, former president of East Timor, in the Australian film Balibo for which he won the AACTA Award for...
NationalityGuatemalan
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth9 March 1979
CountryGuatemala
I was interested in the war part of 'Star Wars,' so I started reading about what it's like to go to war, what that does to you psychically, about the adrenaline and the rush.
I think for some reason we're conditioned in movies that the protagonist must be heroic or redeemable in some way, whereas in theater, that's not a necessary.
Our morality is based on so many factors: of where we were born, who we were born to, what values were instilled in us, what values we chose, the way that our lives have shaped us. That dictates so much of what we assume is our morality, and also the culture, all of these things.
My dad always played a lot of music, so I heard him playing all the time, and then I decided that I wanted to learn to play guitar, so I got an acoustic and started taking lessons. I wanted to be able to shred like Yngwie Malmsteen.
I've been fortunate to be working mostly right out of school. Every year, there was a little something, and it kept the confidence going. It's about confidence and the belief.
I remember the first time my mind was blown by an actor was Tim Curry, because I loved 'Clue' when I was a kid, and then I was watching the movie 'Legend,' and the Devil suddenly smiles, and I was like, 'It's the same guy!' It was a total Keyser Soeze moment.
The motivation is important for me to act it, but I don't necessarily want the audience to know my motivation.
If you start trying to communicate ideas, I think you don't allow the audience to see themselves.
I'm open to the idea of doing more musicals if it's one that I really enjoy.
I was always - maybe stupidly so - very confident.
I grow up in the States, in Miami, but I was born in Guatemala, and my father's Cuban, and in 'Body of Lies,' I played an Iraqi.
Humans are mutants, everything's a mutant - things that evolve.
What you wear can be such an indicator of so many things. You know, how you feel, how you want others to perceive you. So, that is an absolutely essential part of building a character.
There's very few geniuses that come and revolutionize everything. For the rest of us that want to be artists and have something to say, it's a lot of work and a lot of luck.