- Born
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Jason Isaacs was born in Liverpool. He studied law at Bristol University but fell in love with the theatre and directed, produced and appeared in dozens of productions there, at the National Student Theatre Festival and at the Edinburgh Festival. He graduated in 1985 but then attended the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and began working in 1988.
Jason's notable roles include Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, Mr. Darling/Captain Hook in Peter Pan (2003), and many soldiers: Col. William Tavington in Roland Emmerich's The Patriot (2000), Captain Steele in Ridley Scott's Blackhawk Down, Major Briggs in Paul Greengrass's Green Zone, Captain Waggoner in Fury, Captain Lorca in Star Trek: Discovery, Field Marshall Zhukov in Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin and Rear-Admiral Godfrey in John Madden's Operation Mincemeat. He was Hap in the cult series The OA, Maurice in the WW2 film Good (2008) and Jay in the multi-award winning MASS. He has made many TV series in Britain and the US and has won or been nominated for a Golden Globe, International Emmy, BAFTA, Critics Choice, Peabody, Satellite and many other awards.
On stage he was Louis Ironson in the original productions of Angels in America parts 1 and 2 for the Royal National Theatre and has performed at the Royal Court, Almeida and West End Theatres.
Jason is married to documentary filmmaker Emma Hewitt, who he met at drama school and with whom he has two children.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jason Isaacs
- SpouseEmma Hewitt(1988 - present) (2 children)
- ChildrenLily IsaacsRuby Isaacs
- ParentsSheila IsaacsEric Isaacs
- RelativesSibling(Sibling)Sibling(Sibling)Sibling(Sibling)
- Frequently plays elegant villains
- Speaks Spanish fluently. Besides a brief scene in Friends with Money (2006), his role in The Conspiracy (2008) (original title: 'La conjura de El Escoria') was completely in Spanish.
- He writes left-handed, but is otherwise right-handed.
- Is an avid comic-book fan and possessed an enormous collection of Marvel and DC titles as a child.
- Has a daughter named Ruby, born August 2005, who was named by her older sister, Lily.
- His parents were both from Ashkenazi Jewish families. Their ancestors emigrated from Belarus, Russia, and Poland, to England, settling mostly in Liverpool.
- [on the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling] I went off and read the books after the audition and I read all 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 where slightly backward, had been so addicted to these children's books. They're like crack.
- Every time I make a plan, God laughs at me.
- I imagine like most of us that I'd like obscene amounts of money but the people I met and worked with who have those obscene amounts of money and have obscene amounts of fame have awful lives. Really. I mean hideously compromised lives. And I can go anywhere. No one knows who I am. I can go on the tube and bus and wander through the streets. So I'm quite happy not to get the girl.
- [to the producers of the stage version of "Angels in America" while auditioning for the part of "Louis"] 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?
- [on playing Harry H. Corbett in The Curse of Steptoe (2008)] This wasn't just a sitcom. It was like watching a five-act Ibsen (Henrik Ibsen) play. Corbett was making us laugh, but we were laughing at his pain and the hopelessness of his situation. Then there were the story lines ... politics, class, religion, sex. This wasn't what an early-1960s comedy was supposed to deal with. Everybody knows his Steptoe (Steptoe and Son (1962)) voice, but that was nothing like his real voice. He was actually raised in Wythenshawe. He had that peculiar northern thing of trying to make his accent posher than it was. A bit like Harold, really. So much of his real life mirrored Steptoe and I think Galton (Ray Galton) and Simpson (Alan Simpson) picked up on that. Unfortunately, typecasting was far more prevalent in those days. Harry H. Corbett was, without doubt, the finest actor in the country, but the more successful he was as Steptoe, the less work he was offered. He wanted to walk away, but he couldn't. He was very comfortably trapped. I've got mates who are in exactly the same situation. Starring in hugely successful shows, earning loads of money - but they can't stand their jobs. The country loved Harold Steptoe, but Corbett hated him. Really hated him.
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