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Oscar Isaac excels at addressing life after \u201cStar Wars.\u201d Last year, when asked if he would return to play intergalactic pilot Poe Dameron if given the opportunity, he said he\u2019d consider it \u201cif I need another house.\u201d At the Venice Film Festival in September, when pressed to explain why he signed up to play the guilt-stricken, gambling veteran at the center of Paul Schrader\u2019s \u201cThe Card Counter,\u201d he called it a chance to escape \u201cgreen screen alien space land.\u201d <\/p>\n
These cheeky replies almost certainly contain a kernel of truth, but in the case of \u201cThe Card Counter,\u201d they only tell a fraction of a story that predates \u201cStar Wars\u201d by decades. The movie, which finds Isaac delivering a sullen, introverted performance as former Abu Ghraib soldier William Tell, feels like a natural extension of the self-defeatist pariahs he\u2019s played in everything from the bashful musician of \u201cInside Llewyn Davis\u201d to doomed businessman of \u201cA Most Violent Year.\u201d <\/p>\n
Yet the seeds for this dark horse contender in the Oscar race for Best Actor go back much further than that. That context helps explain how Isaac turned up with his best performance to date in the midst of a busy season. This fall, Isaac also appears in \u201cDune\u201d and the HBO miniseries \u201cScenes from a Marriage,\u201d not to mention his voice work as Gomez Addams in \u201cThe Addams Family 2.\u201d But \u201cThe Card Counter\u201d crystallizes his talent like nothing else, in large part because he was so attuned to the material from the start.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaul\u2019s work is in my DNA as an actor,\u201d Isaac said over Zoom in a recent interview from his home in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, admitting that his passion for the work stems back to the 75-year-old director\u2019s most famous screenplay. \u201cIt\u2019s a clich\u00e9 as an American actor to say that \u2019Taxi Driver\u2019 is the thing that made me, but it was such a revolutionary piece of filmmaking, the stuff that changed it all for me and made me fall in love with movies.\u201d <\/p>\n
Isaac first crossed paths with Schrader in 2010, when the actor was just a few years out of Julliard, and his best-known work was Prince John in the misbegotten Russell Crowe version of \u201cRobin Hood.\u201d Schrader was slated to direct \u201cThe Jesuit,\u201d the story of a Latino man who gets out of prison and must rescue his kidnapped son, and Isaac auditioned for the lead. Schrader had most recently worked with Jeff Goldblum on the Holocaust thriller \u201cAdam Resurrected\u201d and Woody Harrelson for \u201cThe Walker,\u201d but felt like taking a chance on the newcomer. \u201cHe has a face you can read into,\u201d Schrader said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I look for.\u201d <\/p>\n
When the company producing \u201cThe Jesuit\u201d fell apart, the project dissipated (it was eventually made, years later, with a different director). But Schrader and Isaac kept in touch as the actor\u2019s star power grew. \u201cI\u2019d go to his office in midtown and we\u2019d talk,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cThis was not about trying to communicate my skill. He just lays out everything I\u2019m interested in.\u201d <\/p>\n
When Schrader\u2019s Ethan Hawke eco-thriller \u201cFirst Reformed\u201d came out in 2017, garnering the filmmaker an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, Isaac dropped Schrader a note. \u201cI wrote him to say how absolutely remarkable it was, easily my favorite film of the year,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cHe thanked me, then said he considered me for the role, but I was too young.\u201d Schrader concurred. \u201cI was always thinking about him,\u201d he said, \u201chis facial structure, his posture, his demeanor.\u201d <\/p>\n
And so when Schrader finished his script for \u201cThe Card Counter,\u201d Isaac was the first person he contacted about playing William Tell. \u201cI immediately wrote back and said, \u2018Of course I\u2019m in,\u2019\u201d Isaac said. \u201cI\u2019d been waiting for that email for some time.\u201d <\/p>\n
Schrader\u2019s standard approach to \u201cman in the room\u201d dramas tend to focus on masculine figures trapped by their own sense of failure, a religious (or dogmatic) guilt complex, and misguided attempts to do something about it. \u201cThe Card Counter\u201d is not exception: William did his time in the military prison Leavenworth, but feels such grief over the pain he\u2019s inflicted that he turns to the endless purgatory of gambling rituals to escape his everyday pains.<\/p>\n
That seems to change once he meets Cirk (Tye Sheridan), the son of William\u2019s former military peer who committed suicide. When Cirk states his desire to exact revenge on the veterans\u2019 superior office (Willem Dafoe), who trained them in the enhanced interrogation methods that ultimately sent them to jail, William takes it upon himself to talk the kid out of it. The emotional stakes of a man both at peace with his fate and determined to do the right thing struck Isaac as fertile ground for exploration. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s carrying this burden forever, and he understands that\u2019s his punishment in life,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cFor me, I had to really connect to the cross that he bears.\u201d <\/p>\n
He got to work. Schrader generally provides minimal guidance to his actors beyond a few notes on their delivery, but gives them room to explore on their own time. In Isaac\u2019s case, that meant going back to his Julliard instructor Moni Yakim, as he did with \u201cInside Llewyn Davis,\u201d to rehearse for the role while wearing a neutral mask. \u201cI did card work with the mask on, and just really tried to focus on how the body shifts,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cWhat is the body like when he\u2019s just aimlessly on the hamster wheel, going in circles, and what is like when he suddenly has a direction, an objective? All of that was provided by the script that Paul sent over. It\u2019s like a playground he provides for you so you aren\u2019t reaching all over the place.\u201d <\/p>\n
Yakim beamed about Isaac\u2019s skill. \u201cOscar\u2019s instincts are highly sharp and evolved,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, he is elusive. You focus on his instincts and then you discover that one right word triggers his imagination, and he takes flight to places you didn\u2019t expect.\u201d With respect to \u201cThe Card Counter,\u201d Yakim said that the character \u201clives with such inner pain and rage, that the only way for him to survive without breaking into pieces is to squash his emotions forcefully. \u2026 Hence, the neutral mask. It imposes a measured and economic behavior. It helps you in holding back, assessing, analyzing the situation, before you move into action.\u201d <\/p>\n
The research continued from there. As with \u201cFirst Reformed,\u201d William maintains a journal that supplies the movie with its occasional Bressonian voiceover, so Isaac took penmanship courses. \u201cI thought this guy is about control, he spends a lot of time doing things by himself, so his penmanship should be really good,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cI had this daily practice of writing.\u201d <\/p>\n
As for William\u2019s specific experiences in the military, Isaac drew from a more personal place. When he graduated high school in Miami, he and a friend decided to enlist in the marines. \u201cI had taken an oath and was ready to go,\u201d he said. \u201cI was really into it. I was like, \u2018Well go, work out, get money for college.\u2019 It was more in that vein, not about ideology.\u201d In the months before he would have enlisted, though, Isaac\u2019s central role in the ska band The Blinking Underdogs took him in a different direction. (The group enjoyed moderate success, at one point opening for Green Day; watch an early clip of their performance below.)<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I could always go to the military later, so I figured, let\u2019s try this album thing first,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that just took me on a different path.\u201d He left the group for Julliard in 2001.<\/p>\n
Years later, while playing an ex-military vigilante in \u201cTriple Frontier,\u201d Isaac said he got to know some of the real-life military advisors on set. \u201cI stayed really good friends with one guy in particular,\u201d he said. \u201cI just really connected with their mentality. I related to what it was like to be sent off to do a job for six or eight months while being away from family. Obviously, in my case, there is a lot less physical danger.\u201d <\/p>\n
Needless to say, Isaac had plenty of material to draw on by the time he arrived on set in early 2020. \u201cHe did what pretty much every actor does until they get so lazy that they don\u2019t care anymore,\u201d Schrader said. \u201cSometimes the best thing you can do is not to interfere.\u201d <\/p>\n
With so much invested in the part, Isaac was hit as hard as his director when the onslaught of the pandemic forced \u201cThe Card Counter\u201d to shut down production with only five days to go. \u201cThat was a brutal moment,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cIt was hard to understand the reality of it in the moment. Being a few days away from finishing and not knowing \u2014 you know, Paul\u2019s up there in age \u2013 so not knowing if we\u2019ll get a chance to come back, that was pretty devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Schrader pushed back on pressure from producers, Isaac tried to rush to the finish line. \u201cI was saying, \u2018No, no, let\u2019s grab the DP and just finish it real quick, just the three of us,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, it was the right thing to do and the best thing that could\u2019ve happened to the movie, because it gave Paul a chance to sit with it, edit it, ask questions, and add some additional things we wouldn\u2019t have been able to do before.\u201d <\/p>\n
When the production finally reconvened for a few days in July, it coincided with Schrader\u2019s birthday. \u201cYou are the most punk rock Calvinist in human history,\u201d Isaac emailed Schrader. \u201cYour vitality, passion, and fuckin warrior spirit is an inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schrader previously explained to IndieWire that he was able to use the down time to share a rough cut with executive producer Martin Scorsese, who suggested that Schrader enhance the relationship between William and La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), the gambling agent who doubles as an unconventional romantic interest. While that process kept the director busy, Isaac waited around. \u201cEven now, it\u2019s a haze,\u201d Isaac said. After \u201cStar Wars,\u201d the actor made headlines by saying that he wanted to take a year off, but this was not what he had in mind. \u201cI got some down time,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I\u2019m going to stop making pronouncements about taking breaks. I\u2019ll let you know in retrospect if it happens.\u201d <\/p>\n
Oscar Isaac and Paul Schrader pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘The Card Counter’ during the 78th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Sep, 2, 2021. (Photo by Joel C Ryan\/Invision\/AP)
\nOscar Isaac and Paul Schrader pose for photographers at the premiere of \u201cThe Card Counter\u201d in Venice<\/p>\n
But then he doubled back with a sheepish grin. \u201cI mean, there is a thought now about taking another break,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite likely. Hopefully there won\u2019t be any new work until next summer into fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isaac recently made it back to New York after an eight-month shoot overseas for the upcoming Disney+ series \u201cMoon Knight,\u201d where he plays the lead. While it\u2019s too early for the actor to say much about the role, the Moon Knight character is consistent with Isaac\u2019s recent performances, William Tell in particular: He\u2019s an ex-marine mercenary with troubled relationship to the world around him. Isaac himself is all too eager to explore the throughlines of his recent work, from William in \u201cThe Card Counter\u201d to futuristic patriarch Duke Leo Atreides in \u201cDune\u201d and the professorial Jonathan in \u201cScenes From a Marriage.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIn a sense, they\u2019re all in an existential crisis,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cThere\u2019s a real sense of poetry to them. They all have characters dealing with pain, loss, confusion, and trying to make their way through these things. For me, it\u2019s all about whether there\u2019s room to explore something interesting in that. It\u2019s more about that than whether the director or character is cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, he was drawn to go back to \u201cDune\u201d in part because of director Denis Villneuve. \u201cThe big spectacle part of it was not the attraction,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was very, very little green screen for my scenes. The set was all these brutalist architectural forms, with two hangers built into entire palaces. To be honest, it felt like opera, as though I was on a stage for a massive theatrical experience.\u201d His character\u2019s climactic confrontation with the movie\u2019s big villain left him reeling. \u201cI remember doing that scene and thinking it might as well have been \u2018Macbeth,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI could feel how elevated it was, but there was also such a tragic intensity to the whole thing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Like Villneuve, Isaac wasn\u2019t thrilled about the day-and-date release plan for \u201cDune,\u201d but praised Warner Bros. for committing to a 45-day theatrical window on releases in 2022. \u201cThat\u2019s half of what it used to be, but it\u2019s something,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t see it going back. There\u2019s a compromise there. There\u2019s something about the nature of how we consume media that is hard to pull away from.\u201d <\/p>\n
While Isaac has plenty of ideas about the industry, he has an uneasy relationship to his fame. When a bizarre slo-mo video of him apparently kissing \u201cScenes from a Marriage\u201d co-star Jessica Chastain\u2019s arm on the Venice red carpet went viral, it generated more headlines than \u201cThe Card Counter\u201d itself.<\/p>\n
Isaac dodged any discussion of that peculiar moment while making his stance on it clear. \u201cUm,\u201d he said, when asked about the clip, and paused for a solid 15 seconds. Then squinted into the camera and grinned. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t me,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know who that was, but we\u2019re on to it. We\u2019ve gotta stop that guy, whoever that was. I\u2019ve got my best people on it. I\u2019ve got to figure out what that was all about, aside from distracting people from the important things.\u201d <\/p>\n
He was much happier to address rumors of his potential next moves. While he\u2019s currently set to play Francis Ford Coppola in a behind-the-scenes miniseries about the making of \u201cThe Godfather,\u201d the real-life Coppola also made news recently by saying that he was hoping to cast Isaac in the lead role of his decades-in-the-work passion project \u201cMegalopolis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isaac confirmed their discussions for \u201cMegalopolis,\u201d which Coppola has said he\u2019d spend as much as $120 million of his own money to finance with an eye towards shooting next fall. \u201cFrancis and I have been in conversation about it, and it\u2019s really exciting,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cObviously, if it gets up and running, how could someone not be a part of that, you know? I certainly have every appendage crossed that it actually comes to fruition, because being on set with him would be out of this world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coppola and Schrader both emerged from the iconic era of American cinema in the 1970s that Isaac holds dear. \u201cThere was something visceral and irreverent about those films and the performances in them,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s an immediacy and intensity to that work that I feel is often missing in a lot of modern films. Everything now often feels quite safe and willed into being.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a striking observation from an actor who spent the past decade starring in the biggest movie franchise in film history, and he wasn\u2019t finished. \u201cLook, a lot of people are making good movies, but the \u201970s movies were mainstream movies,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cAnd so in mainstream filmmaking today, things just feel a bit more constrained, more square. I generally get more excited about movies I\u2019ve seen many times from back then than anything in current mainstream films.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isaac has seen the Hollywood machine up close a few times over and knows what sort of danger lies there. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenging thing, that dirty word \u2018content,\u2019\u201d he said, and cringed. \u201cEverything just becomes a sea of content. Yeah, it\u2019s very easy to get pessimistic about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s learned to find his own pathways towards justifying the bigger projects. \u201cI think, often in these weird, uncertain times, that\u2019s where innovation can really come in and save storytelling from these big conglomerates,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t all have to become content. It can be actual, rebellious, subversive art. There\u2019s gotta be room for that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes, he added, even with the \u201cStar Wars\u201d franchise. \u201cIf something comes my way from that world and it feels like there\u2019s space to do something creative and exciting,\u201d he said, \u201cI hold room in my heart for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Card Counter\u201d is now in theaters and digital release from Focus Features.<\/p>\n
View this article at IndieWire<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oscar Isaac Reveals the Intricate Process Behind His Career-Best Performance in \u2018The Card Counter\u2019: Oscar Isaac excels at addressing life after \u201cStar Wars.\u201d Last year, when asked if he would return to play intergalactic pilot Poe Dameron if given the opportunity, he said he\u2019d consider it \u201cif I need another house.\u201d At the Venice Film
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