Oscar Isaac is about to become a science fiction legend.
Whether you know who Isaac is or not, there’s a good chance you’ve watched him on the big screen before. The Guatemalan-born American actor had numerous significant supporting roles, specifically in the early 2010s. He was Prince John in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. He was the asshole boyfriend in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. He also played Outcome 3 as a part of the large ensemble cast in The Bourne Legacy. It wasn’t until starring in The Coen Brothers Insider Llewyn Davis that Isaac got his big break.
Inside Llewyn Davis, partly inspired by American folk singer Dave Van Ronk’s autobiography, followed one week in the life of a down-on-his-luck folk musician in the early 1960s. Isaac, who went to Juilliard and is a talented musician in his own right, was a perfect fit for the role. He played a struggling Llewyn Davis, showing his acting and musical range in a performance that really put him on the map.
With the role, Isaac got the chance to play at New York City’s Town Hall in a concert film that featured Joan Baez, The Avett Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens, Jack White and Willie Watson among others. He also earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. He was a true double threat.
Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song) Live At Town Hall from Elisa Schneider on Vimeo.
Isaac followed up Inside Llewyn Davis with J.C Chandor’s critically acclaimed A Most Violent Year, starring opposite to Jessica Chastain. He’s also getting buzz for starring in Ex Machina, a cerebral science fiction movie which marks the directorial debut for Dredd writer Alex Garland.
Despite all those roles, what’s coming up next for Isaac is what may put him among the Hollywood elite. Isaac was featured in the iconic cast reveal photo for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which by far is his largest film role to date.
Isaac is set to play X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron, one of the new three main characters in the film, with rumours suggesting he’ll be playing a Han Solo-type role in the film. That’s as big as it gets. Here’s what Cinemablend said about the role:
Rather surprisingly, it was revealed that Poe’s role in the plot comes from a mission that he is given from “a certain princess” (who we can probably all assume is Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia). It’s while doing this mission that he winds up coming across John Boyega’s Finn, and while it wasn’t really teased what we can expect from their relationship together, Isaac offered that “their fates are forever intertwined.”
He’s already been confirmed to return in the role for the yet-to-be-titled Star Wars VIII.
You could argue Star Wars isn’t even the biggest upcoming role Isaac has scored. He’s set to play the titular villain in Bryan Singer’s X-Men Apocalypse. Like The Force Awakens, Apocalypse features a large ensemble cast of up-and-comers including Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler and Mud’s Tye Sheridan as Cyclops.
The film is going to focus on the origin of mutants, and how Isaac’s instrumental character was the first born with the mutant X-gene. Like Star Wars, It’s an integral role in one of the highest grossing franchises in film history.
With Star Wars, X-Men and his impressive existing resume, now is the time to jump aboard the Oscar Isaac bandwagon. He is about to go from Hollywood’s most underrated actor to one of the most recognizable film stars in the world — a transition which is already happening. We’re about to see his face everywhere.
