Jason Isaacs: ‘I don’t mind playing villains – as long as they can justify their own actions’

The British actor lends his voice to new animated film, Monster Family
Playing the bad guy: Jason Isaacs on his villainous roles
Dave Benett
Jennifer Ruby28 February 2018
The Weekender

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Jason Isaacs has said that he is happy to play villainous characters as long as they can justify their own actions, citing Donald Trump as a real life example.

The British actor, 54, famously portrayed Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series and is now playing an unhinged doctor in Netflix’s The OA and Count Dracula in new animated film, Monster Family.

“It’s been clear to me for a long time, as is clear to most intelligent people, that no one thinks they’re doing the wrong thing,” Isaacs told the Standard.

“Everyone thinks they’re doing the right thing and everyone can justify whatever they’re doing, even if they seem monstrous to the rest of us.”

Villainous: Jason Isaacs and Lucius Malfoy (Warner Brothers Intl )

An outspoken critic of the US President, Isaacs said that despite being one of the “worst human beings on the planet”, Trump still believes what he’s doing is right.

“That ignorant, dangerous moron in the White house at the moment gets out of bed and thinks that he’s the saviour,” he said. “If God forbid he ever presses the nuclear button, he’ll have some justification for it. And clearly he’s itching to do something like that.”

He added: “And I think he’s one of the worst human being on the planet, but there’s nobody throughout history who couldn’t utterly justify what they’re doing.

“That’s my job when I’m offered parts that seem to be there to drive the peril in the plot, the criteria I set myself is that I will take the part if this person can justify what they’re doing and rationalise it.

“If they‘re only doing thing in order for the audience to go “boo, hiss” then I’ll walk away from it because I won’t be able to flesh it out and make it seem real. Can I access the conversation inside the character’s head by which they are the hero of their own life story.”

The actor has used his public Twitter account to call out Trump in recent months and recently described his daughter Ivanka Trump as a “brainless Barbie” after she voiced her support for Oprah’s speech at the Golden Globes.

Back in October he told his followers that he was “sick and tired of Trump and other f***wits poisoning my days.”

Isaacs has starred in a slew of TV shows including Star Trek and The OA, as well as films such The Death of Stalin and the forthcoming The Palace over the last few years, but has had to put family plans on the backburner as a result.

“I really wasn’t up for doing Star Trek. I didn’t want to do it, it wasn’t the kind of thing I was looking for and then I read the script and thought it was great,” he said.

“I make no plans because when I make plans somebody somewhere is moving the chess pieces around.

“It makes family life challenging. We were about to go and walk the Machu Picchu trail last summer as a family and I got offered called The Palace about the terrorist siege in Mumbai in 2008 and it was too powerful and inspiring and brilliant a story and the people involved were too great and I’m afraid I completely blew up my families holiday plans which is something they are very used to now. They always have a back-up.”

Getting back on the West End stage after a 10 year hiatus is Isaacs next challenge: “I’m desperate to do a play because I’ve not been on stage for years. I’ve put the word out.”

Monster Family will be in cinemas and on Sky Cinema from this Friday, March 2.

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