Jason Isaacs has a long career as an actor. You have seen him in some high-profile movies over the past three decades including Dragonheart, Event Horizon, Armageddon, Black Hawk Down, Peter Pan (as Captain Hook), Star Trek: Discovery, Green Zone, The Patriot (as a sadistic cavalry officer) and of course as Lucius Malfoy, leader of the Death Eaters, in the Harry Potter film franchise.
He has also played – brilliantly – Cary Grant in Britbox’s Archie, earned a Golden Globe nomination for The State Within, was notable in Death of Stalin, and more recently in the true story The Salt Path. His performance in the harrowing Mass is also one of his most memorable. And now he has his first Emmy nomination as Timothy Ratcliff, father of a unique clan on vacation in Thailand when his whole world starts crumbling around him, in the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus. He is up for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, one of many fellow White Lotus cast members nominated this year — and deservedly so.
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Isaacs joins me for this edition of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens to talk about this fascinating role in Mike White’s juggernaut and what it is like to compete against co-stars Walton Goggins and Sam Rockwell at the Emmys, nailing that North Carolina accent, as well as all the high points of his long career, and why Harry Potter is not the role for which he is most recognized. Plus, he talks about how he also has a successful career behind the camera as a producer, having served as EP on the aforementioned Archie, Case Histories and Good, as well as producer on Good Sam and Awake among other projects. He talks about how taking the reins as a producer can make all the difference as an actor too.
Watch on Deadline
To watch our conversation and go “behind the lens” with Jason Isaacs, watch the video above.