His television roles include Dr. Hunter Aloysius "Hap" Percy in the Netflix supernatural mystery drama streaming series The OA (2016–2019) and Captain Gabriel Lorca in Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2018).
Isaacs was born to Jewish parents in Liverpool on 6 June 1963.[6] His father was a jeweller.[7] He has two older brothers and one younger brother.[6] He spent his earliest childhood years in the Liverpool suburb of Childwall, in a "closely knit & integrated" Jewish community co-founded by his Eastern European Jewish great-grandparents.[8] He has said that being Jewish played a big role in his childhood, as he attended youth club in the local synagogue of King David High School in Liverpool's Childwall district, as well as a cheder twice a week as a young adult.[9][10][11] When he was 11, he moved with his family to London and attended the Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in nearby Elstree at the same time as David Baddiel, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Kermode, and Matt Lucas.[9] He describes the bullying and intolerance he observed and experienced during his childhood as "preparation" for portraying the "unattractive" villains he has most often played.[3][9]
As a Jewish teen in London, Isaacs endured antisemitism by the National Front, a far-right extremist organisation. His parents eventually emigrated to Israel.[9] He later told an interviewer, "There were constantly people beating us up or smashing windows. If you were ever, say, on a Jewish holiday, identifiably Jewish, there was lots of violence around. But particularly when I was 16, in 1979, the National Front were really taking hold, there were leaflets at school, and Sieg Heiling and people goose-stepping down the road and coming after us."[7] Following in the footsteps of his three brothers (one who became a doctor, one a lawyer, and one an accountant),[6] he studied law at Bristol University from 1982 to 1985, becoming involved in the university's theatre club there; he eventually acted in over 30 plays and performed each summer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, first with Bristol University and then twice with the National Student Theatre Company. After graduating, he went immediately to train at London's Central School of Speech and Drama from 1985 to 1988.[3][6][12]
After training as an actor, Isaacs 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).[12] He was initially known as a television actor, 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).[12] He also played Michael Ryan in ITV's adaptation of Martina Cole's novel Dangerous Lady, directed by Jack Woods and produced by Lavinia Warner in 1995.[13]
On stage, he portrayed the "emotionally waffling"[12] 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.[2] 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]
After appearing in Dragonheart (1996), Isaacs landed his first major Hollywood feature-film role alongside Laurence Fishburne in the horror film Event Horizon (1997) where he played the role of D.J., the doctor of Lewis and Clark. Subsequently, he appeared in the Bruce Willis blockbuster Armageddon (1998).[12] 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.[6] Isaacs played a charismatic honourable priest opposite Kirstie Alley in the miniseries The Last Don II (1998).[14] Following that he portrayed 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 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, he 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." (From an interview in 2009 on ITV's The Justin Lee Collins Show)[16]
In "The Naked and the Dead", an article published in the San Francisco Chronicle, on 26 November 2006, Neva Chonin named 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".[17]
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."[18] Isaacs also talked to 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.' "[19] 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).[20]
On 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.[23][24] 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).
Isaacs in July 2011
Between 2 February and 24 March 2007, Isaacs played Ben, opposite Lee Evans (Gus), in the 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).[3][4][5][25][26]
In 2007, he was originally cast in Jan de Bont's then-still-upcoming film Stopping Power, to play its star John Cusack's "nemesis",[29][30] but, on 31 August 2007, Variety reported that the film, which was also planned for release in 2009, had been cancelled after a financial backer pulled out.[31] 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.[32]
On the evening of 2 May 2009, Isaacs performed the role of Ben again, opposite his Brotherhood co-star (and Tony Award winner) Brían 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.[33][34]
Isaacs starred as Detective Michael Britten in the NBC police procedural fantasy drama 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."[35]
In 2015, Isaacs took the lead role in the USA Network action adventure drama series Dig. Isaacs plays an FBI agent (which was named Peter Connelly) stationed in Jerusalem who uncovers a 2,000-year-old conspiracy while investigating an archaeologist's murder. The ten-episode series premiered 5 March 2015. In February 2016, he starred in Medusa's Ankles, a film directed by Harry Potter co-star Bonnie Wright. In December 2016, he appeared in the Netflix series The OA as Dr. Hunter Aloysius "Hap" Percy.[36]
It was announced in March 2017 that Isaacs would play the role of Captain Gabriel Lorca in the new CBS All Access (or Paramount+) series Star Trek: Discovery.[37][38] The series premiered on 24 September 2017. Isaacs made his first appearance as Lorca on 1 October 2017 in the third episode, "Context Is for Kings".[citation needed] Lorca was exposed as his 'mirror universe' self in episode 13, "What's Past Is Prologue", in which the character was killed.[39] In January 2019, showrunner Alex Kurtzman teased the possible return of Isaacs as 'Prime universe' Lorca at some point beyond season two.[40] Isaacs also voices the character for the 2019 role-playing game Star Trek Online: Rise of Discovery.[41]
In November 2019, it was announced that Isaacs will appear beside Jim Broadbent in the film The Dead Spit of Kelly.[45]
2020s
In March 2020, Isaacs played in the lead role of Dr. Rob "Griff" Griffith in the CBS drama pilot Good Sam, which was later picked up to series in 2021 for a mid-season premiere on 5 January 2022.[46][47]
Isaacs is set to star in the upcoming third season of Emmy award-winning show The White Lotus, filming is set to take place in Thailand in February 2024.[49]
Personal life
Isaacs moved in with his girlfriend, BBC documentary filmmaker Emma Hewitt, in 1987.[50] They began dating while studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama and were married in 2001.[51] They have two daughters, Lily (b. 2002) and Ruby (b. 2005).[9]
Isaacs has described himself as "profoundly Jewish but not in a religious way".[9] He does not keep kosher[52] and is an atheist.[1] He has spoken of travelling unrecognised to film premieres on the London Underground, but said that "as soon as [he] get[s] on the red carpet they start screaming and screaming".[3] He is involved with a number of charities and is a patron of the Scottish veterans charity Bravehound.[53][54]
In August 2020, Isaacs revealed that he had achieved sobriety after struggling with a drug and alcohol addiction for over two decades.[59] He traced his experience back to being 12 years old, when a bartender gave him and his friends a bottle of Southern Comfort, after which he "woke up with a splitting headache, stinking of puke with a huge scab and the memory of having utterly shamed [himself]".[59] He subsequently "chased the sheer ecstatic joy [he] felt that night for another 20 years with increasingly dire consequences".[59] He eventually realised he needed help, but asked fans on Twitter not to congratulate him on his sobriety as "pride is the worst part".[60]
^ ab"Dumb Waiter Limited Run". Sonia Friedman Productions (Press release). 3 January 2007. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. 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....
^ abAnsdell, Caroline. "Review Round-up: Critics Find Waiter Not So Dumb". Sadler's Wells Press Office.
^ abcdefMarx, Rebecca Flint. "Jason Isaacs: Biography". Moviefone. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. 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.
.jpg)
