Oscar Isaac until recently has dominated the peripherals of the Hollywood limelight. He is a Juilliard alumni who started his acting career in the late 90s. Throughout the 2000s, he played a handful of small roles and in 2006 won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his film Balibo. In the mid-2000s, Isaac started to gain traction through some supporting roles in larger films including Body of Lies, Robin Hood, and Drive. It wasn’t until what many would consider to be his breakout film in 2013, the great Coen Brothers film Inside Llweyn Davis, that the now incredibly popular actor would start being cast in some of the most successful films of the decade.
How did Isaac go from minor casting to A-list celebrity in only a few years? Some may point to his good looks and charisma, and while that may play a role, there is much more to Isaac than his heart-melting smile and affable demeanor. In combination with his raw talent, Oscar Isaac displays a tremendous amount of passion, range, and humility through his roles. With his starring role in Moon Knight, which Ethan Hawke called "absolutely phenomenal," It's clear that there is still an incredible career ahead of the actor and, with each film he acts in, he further perfects his craft.
The Versatility of Oscar Isaac
The man has range, from struggling folk artist to Duke of Atreides, his ability to play such different roles is quite astounding, resulting in many of the best Oscar Isaac movies. He can be seen as a humble, down on his luck man in one film, then later play a powerful, elegant, and possibly arrogant ruler and conqueror. It seems as though Isaac can adapt to whatever the script writes him as. In a world where many actors are typecast as similar archetypes, this is an incredible talent. His ability to define a unique character in incredibly different roles make him easy to cast and will help him continue to land lead roles in the Hollywood landscape.
His talent for mastering different characters is incredible, but even within one character he is able to showcase a wide range of emotions. In the film Ex Machina, Isaac plays an ultra-wealthy computer scientist who is trying to build an A.I. In his pursuit of developing this advanced technology he hires a programmer named Caleb to help him. This film shows great versatility from Isaac, and he is able to build a unique and realistic character.
Throughout the film we see him as a cocky developer, a cruel creator, a womanizer, and a lonely and afraid outcast. His temperament and cadence switches at a moment's notice. It really is an incredible feat, making him an actor who could heartbreakingly play a Yonkers politician in Show Me a Hero just as well as he'll play Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid. His ability to so drastically change his character comes from his real life experiences, and his drive to become a great actor.
The Authenticity of Oscar Isaac
Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada was born in Guatemala. His mother is Guatemalan and his father is Cuban. He doesn't come from a dynasty of Hollywood actors, and moved to the U.S when he was five months old. His dad works as a pulmonologist, and before getting started with his acting career he worked as an orderly with his father. Issac had a christian upbringing and grew up in Miami. His childhood experience is similar to many other Americans, he became interested in acting when cast in a Miami-based play.
Isaac was also involved in the Miami music scene. For some time he played lead guitar and sang vocals for a band called The Blinking Underdogs. His music career saw a decent amount of success and the band opened for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Green Day.
Oscar Isaac isn't by any means an outsider to Hollywood; his practice at Juilliard helped to elevate and align himself with other top tier actors of Los Angeles. But his Miami upbringing, and the fact that he wasn't born into the world of acting, gives him a sense of authenticity and approachability that can be lacking with other Hollywood actors.
The Drive and Passion of Oscar Isaac
Seeing that the man has so much talent, it is easy to suggest he is merely lucky to be imbued with such natural skill. And although innate talent may be a part of the equation, Oscar Isaac also has an incredible degree of drive which pushes him to his top-tier acting ability. For example, before auditioning for the role of Llewyn Davis, he took guitar lessons from someone who played with the man that inspired the film, Dave Van Ronk. Issac wanted to be able to accurately emulate the folk style of Van Ronk, and took to practicing with one of his peers before even landing the gig.
Oscar Isaac is committed to his craft and is committed to a high quality performance. When originally prospected for a role in one of the Star Wars movies, The Force Awakens, Isaac was asked to play another character. Isaac was planning on turning down the role, but was then offered to play the character of Poe Dameron. Isaac fits the role perfectly and fits in perfectly among the other talented actors of the Star Wars universe.
Being involved in the making of Star Wars is a big deal for many actors; the pay as well as the notoriety is hard to pass up. The fact that Isaac would have turned down the role if it wasn't a good fit is a testament to his desire to create fulfilling and deep characters through his craft, something which has earned him comparisons to Marlon Brando, and will surely be seen for a long time to come.