In October 2018, Oscar Isaac thought he was taking an extended break from acting after completing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in a few months. In January 2019, however, his intentions quickly changed when he joined Denis Villeneuve’s Dune as Duke Leto Atreides I. Isaac had expressed an interest in Dune to Villeneuve a few years earlier, so his change of plans was understandable. And shortly after completing Dune, he also couldn’t resist the opportunity to play Paul Schrader’s newest protagonist in The Card Counter, which began production in early 2020 and ended in July 2020 following the industry-wide pandemic shutdown.
When Moon Knight approached him in fall 2020, Isaac had reservations about joining another franchise without taking a proper break from tentpole projects. But upon looking at the Steven Grant character, he was immediately intrigued by the museum gift shop clerk, who discovered he suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and shares a body with Marc Spector/Moon Knight, a former mercenary who now lives does the commandment of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon and vengeance.
“I had so much hesitation. So much,” Isaac tells . “I was like, ‘I’ve just finally come out of a long time being part of the Star Wars universe,’ which I loved doing, but it definitely took a lot of time. So I was excited to go back to doing more character studies and smaller films. But that got in my way, and my first instinct was, ‘This is probably not the right thing to do.’ But there was just something about the Steven character that appealed to me a little bit.”
In order to play two different versions of the same character at the same time, Isaac needed a version of himself to appear like his own co-star, so he called in his younger brother, actor Michael Hernandez, to help.
“[Michael Hernandez] would play the character I’m not playing right now,” says Isaac. “So sometimes I had to arrive on set and decide which character I wanted to play first. And I would study it as this character, and then I would play the other character and give notes to my brother. And then I would figure out the blocking, the energy, all that stuff and make those decisions before the cameras rolled, which is difficult. Usually as an actor you really look forward to the unexpected. This is how you find spontaneity. So that was one of the big technical challenges of the show.”
In a recent chat with THR on Moon Knight’s Virtual Junket, Isaac also opens up about the English actor who inspired his portrayal of Steven, who was originally conceived as an American expat based in London.
So I have to admit I was a bit surprised when you signed up moon knight.
Me too!
I wrongly assumed that after the big commitment you would take a long break from franchises star wars. Have you hesitated to get back into a franchise without a long break?
I had so much hesitation. so much (laughs) That’s exactly what it was. I said, “I just finally got out of a long time being part of the Star Wars universe,” which I was happy to do, but it definitely took a lot of time. So I was excited to go back to doing more character studies and smaller films. But that got in my way, and my instinct at first was, “That’s probably not the right thing.” But there was just something about the Steven character that appealed to me a little. Ultimately, for me, it’s about whether there is space to create something. The size doesn’t really matter. Is there room to really delve into a person, a psyche, and tell a story from that person’s point of view? So I researched it more and more and started to dive deep into DID [Dissociative Identity Disorder] and what it means to struggle with it. And I realized that the language used to talk about DID is pretty awesome language. It’s such a complex psychological thing. They use that kind of Jungian talk. It is dream logic and dream talk. So it felt like it was a pretty organic place to talk about it from a very internal point of view. And then when I found Steven, that characterization, it was kind of like, “What would Peter Sellers do if he was asked to be in a Marvel movie?” (Laughs.) So it kind of kind of lit a little flame of inspiration, and When I brought many of these thoughts to Kevin Feige, to my surprise he was so open to collaborating. It just speaks to his willingness to bring in people with very strong points of view and have that kind of collaboration.
Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant/Marc Spector in Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight. Courtesy of Marvel Studios
In the many scenes where you interact with yourself as Steven Grant and Marc Spector, did anyone else read Marc’s or Stevens’ page out of frame?
Well, it was really technical. So I ended up getting my brother, who is an actor, to come out. Michael Hernandez. So he came out and played the character that I wasn’t playing right now. Without revealing too much about what’s next, [Marc and Steven] share the screen with yourself. So sometimes I had to arrive on set and decide which character I wanted to play first. And I would study it as this character, and then I would play the other character and give notes to my brother. And then I would figure out the blocking, the energy, all that stuff and make those decisions before the cameras rolled, which is difficult. Usually as an actor you really look forward to the unexpected. An actor across from you does something different and you react. This is how you find spontaneity. So that was one of the big technical challenges of the show.
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Moon Knight launches on Disney+ on March 30th.