Jason Isaacs talks 'Sweetwater,' Lucius Malfoy and returning to TV
Sundance interview includes much discussion of sympathetic villains
PARK CITY, UTAH - Jason Isaacs is an extremely nice guy who makes an extremely evil guy when circumstances require.
The "Awake" and "Brotherhood" star was battling a near-total vocal outage when we talked at last month's Sundance Film Festival, but he fought through the hoarseness to discuss his dark turn in "Sweetwater."
In the Miller Brothers' not-exactly-Western, Isaacs plays self-appointed prophet Josiah, who rules a small frontier fiefdom with the alleged word of God and an iron fist. A man of faith, Josiah is also heavily invested in worldly goods, including land, multiple wives and a band new mahogany desk from British Honduras. This all causes him to run afoul of the initially passive, but increasingly vengeful, Sarah (January Jones).
Josiah is not a good guy, but to hear Isaacs describe him, he's not exactly a bad guy either. Then again, Isaacs has a deep and abiding sympathy for Lucious Malfoy, the dastardly Death Eater he played in the Harry Potter franchise.
In our Sundance conversation, Isaacs discusses the fine art of playing villains without thinking of them as villains. He also talks about his love for Apple products and -- this will be exciting for fans of the short-lived "Awake" -- his desire to get back into TV this year. In fact, he says he's weighing several TV offers.
Check out the full interview above...
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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJason Regan
February 3, 2013 at 9:41AM EST Reply to CommentI think he would have made a great Bond.
Paul F
February 3, 2013 at 9:45AM EST Reply to CommentTV-wise, at least Case Histories should be back fairly soon. Not a great show, but better than nothing.
chaburchak
February 3, 2013 at 12:28PM EST Reply to CommentIs it just me or would that guy make a great Kraven the Hunter for a Spider-Man movie?
Dude person thing
February 3, 2013 at 1:22PM EST Reply to CommentI hope he gets himself a cable series, maybe one of FX or Showtime's upcoming dramas.