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Backstage - Jason Isaacs Interview
HARRY POTTER VILLAIN JASON ISAACS VOICES DARK KNIGHT NEMESIS
RA’S AL GHUL IN BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD Jason Isaacs, renowned for
his villainous turn as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, assumes another
dark iconic role as the voice of Ra’s al Ghul in Batman: Under the Red Hood,
the latest entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original PG-13
Movies coming July 27, 2010 to Blu-ray, DVD, OnDemand and for Download.
Isaacs, who portrays Malfoy in five Harry Potter films, is well known for
his lead role on the Showtime series Brotherhood, as well as starring
opposite Mel Gibson in the revolutionary war adventure, The Patriot. The
British actor has also racked up credits in films like Armageddon,
Black Hawk Down, Peter Pan, Grindhouse, DragonHeart
and Green Zone; TV series including The West Wing, Entourage
and The State Within (for which he received a Golden Globe nomination);
and in the voiceover realm in everything from documentary narration and
commercial advertisements to video games and the popular animated series
Avatar: The Last Airbender.
In Batman: Under the Red Hood,
Isaacs gives Batman’s nemesis Ra’s al Ghul a sympathetic twist as the villain
attempts to right his own wrongs and help Batman in his efforts against both Red
Hood and the Joker. Isaacs is an integral part of an all-star cast that includes
Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek), Jensen Ackles (Supernatural), Neil
Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) and John DiMaggio (Futurama).
Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros.
Animation, Batman: Under the Red Hood will be distributed by Warner Home
Video as a Special Edition version on Blu-Ray™ and 2-disc DVD, as well as being
available on single disc DVD, On Demand and for Download.
Isaacs splits
his time between the UK and the US, but still found a few moments to chat about
his latest animation voiceover role, his yearning for an actual super power, and
his childhood addiction to comic books. Read on …
QUESTION: This isn’t
really the Ra’s al Ghul we’re accustomed to seeing – what’s the nutshell
synopsis of his part in Batman: Under the Red Hood?
JASON
ISAACS: This role is a bit unusual for Ra's al Ghul as he’s been Batman's
nemesis a lot in the past. But this time he is actually full of regret for a
mistake that he has made, and his inability to control the Joker. A lot of what
happens for Ra’s in this story is him explaining to Batman how things went so
badly awry, and how Robin ended up quite so dead.
QUESTION: Liam Neeson set a standard
for Ra’s in Batman Begins. How did you decide to approach the voice for
this film?
JASON ISAACS: Well, I didn’t think there was much point to
doing an impression of Liam, mostly because he does it far better than me (he
laughs). So I read the script and I looked at the pictures. He looked like a man
with a lot of dignity and authority – there's a kind of stateliness about him.
He's been alive for six centuries, which would give him a certain classiness, I
thought. Obviously he's been powerful all that time, and certainly possessed
tons of wealth and influence. So I tried to put all of that into the tone to his
voice.
QUESTION: You were very participatory in crafting some of the
dialogue as you recorded the film. How important is it for the actor to be able
to contribute to the character?
JASON ISAACS: This is one of the
things that happens when a script has been written and rewritten and rewritten
again, and considered by so many people so often, and they all have different
agendas. They all know what story blocks they're putting together, and what the
visual sequences look like. And then the actor comes in. Sometimes just the very
last set of eyes laid on the script, by the person who's meant to bring it to
life, can point out an inconsistency or a logical flaw where the meaning isn't
clear. It's happened a few times in my life that you see a room full of people
surprised because they thought the meaning was crystal clear. But if I don't
really understand what I'm saying or why, I'm not sure the audience will,
either. So I offer up my thoughts to the director or whoever and, if they agree
with me, then we change it. And if they don't, then I do whatever I'm asked
because, in the end, I'm just a hired larynx.
QUESTION: Do you believe
there is a certain elegant villainy to a British accent? Or is that a purely
American concept?
JASON ISAACS: I think one of the reasons British
people play so many villains in Hollywood stories is that there's a tradition of
theatre acting and a kind of chameleon-like change that comes from Europe. Well,
that and all the good leading parts are already snapped up by the Americans over
here (he laughs). I think we have a theatre tradition, and are slightly more
prepared to chew the scenery and relish things a bit more. It has more to do
with reaching the back row. Besides, very often the juiciest role is the
villain. The hero is difficult to play anyway. They're mostly homegrown and very
good at it.
QUESTION: Is villainy fun to play?
JASON
ISAACS: The thing that’s fun to play are well written parts. It's absolutely
torturous to play something that is written purely for its effect on the
audience, and doesn't seem believable to you. Or, even worse, somebody that just
has no reason to be or speak. Very often there are chunks of exposition that
just would not be said between people. So evil is fun to play when it's written
sensibly and well. There's nothing worse than playing a villain who is
outsmarted by the hero from the beginning, and doing things that are purely
sadistic in a way that nobody will ever do. I think the most monstrous things an
audience reacts to are when they understand that that character has to do it,
needs to do it, must do it – and if the audience was in the same situation, they
would do it, also. Nobody ever thinks they're doing the wrong thing. So when the
part is well enough written, the actor responds to the character, because he
thinks that he’s doing the right thing. That's much more disturbing to watch
because you recognize the inevitability of it. You can’t escape that. The best
written villain roles are the ones that feel real and understandable – because
those are the ones that haunt your nightmares.
QUESTION: What’s it
like to be the ultimate nice guy, and yet most recognized for the villains
you’ve portrayed?
JASON ISAACS: I've played priests and I've played
transvestites, wizards and pirates, and everything in between. But there are
certain roles people remember best. I think that if I spend a day going around
town and everybody opens doors for me and says “hi” and “have a nice day,” but
one guy pokes me in the eye with a toothpick, he's the guy I remember at the end
of the day. So, if people remember me as playing villains – and I've played two
or three of them – that's because those parts have kind of hit a consciousness.
I've been lucky enough to have a couple of very juicy, very well written parts
in stories where the people telling the story were smart enough to give the
villain power. That's very often not the case in Hollywood movies.
Maybe
one of the reasons I've done well when I have played villains is because I spend
most of my life like most people – trying to make sure that I do the right
thing, and make sure that the people like me, and I'm not behaving (badly). So
when I do play a villain once in awhile, it's nice to be let off the leash and
allowed to be deeply unpleasant with no consequences.
QUESTION: Was
your childhood affected at all by comic books, or is the omnipresence of the
super hero in Hollywood just making its mark on you?
JASON ISAACS: I
was slightly suspicious of the whole comic and graphic novel rebirth, because I
wasn't any part of it and hadn't read any comics in so long. But I remember when
I was a kid how addicted I had been to all the DC and Marvel comics. I had
mountains of them in my room – you couldn't open the door. I wondered why
everyone was suddenly (making comics into films). Then when my friend Paul
Greengrass was getting involved in preparing the Watchman a few years ago
to direct, which then fell apart and it was directed by someone else, I had a
look at it. I wondered why somebody I respected and like so much would be
involved, and I picked it up and suddenly realized the things I had been missing
for all these years.
I mean, as a kid, I was addicted to comics. I
couldn't wait for every Sunday when my family and I would go and get fish and
chips – that’s an English kind of junk food tradition (he laughs). There was a
little shop next door that sold candy and had boxes of used comics. My dad would
give me money, and all week I would look forward to rummaging through the boxes
and seeing if I could find something that I loved. All those wonderful
characters – I was addicted to it all. I would be dismissive of some new
character – anybody relatively new I would dimiss as some pretender, but then I
would get one of their comics … and then I would have to go get the rest of the
series. My bed was propped with them by the end.
QUESTION: Do you
understand what was at the core of that love affair with comics?
JASON
ISAACS: I just know that I did. In some ways, it's like asking why somebody
likes chocolate and somebody else likes strawberry. There's something that works
about it there. It's a combination of the art and the amount that your
imagination fills in between the gaps. And the fact that the restraints and
controls are taken off. When you make a movie, it's a very literal medium -- you
watch the story, and it's as if you're looking through a keyhole. It's very hard
to take people on a fantastical journey, but in these beautiful and bright
frames you can take them to any universe you create. And 90 percent of it the
reader does by himself. It's amazing in this generation that somebody has
married all that stuff to actually very adult themes.
Maybe one of the
reasons that I loved them so much is that, at that age, when you're a kid,
you're not quite sure what the physical realities of the world are. It wasn't
inconceivable to me that I might get one of these super powers soon. I might be
bitten by a radioactive spider, or that I could someday fly, or be bulletproof,
or whatever. I fancied that those powers were somehow accessible and within my
reach. And sadly, as you get older, it seems less and less likely.
QUESTION: Does acting in
a Batman film have any added significance for you?
JASON ISAACS:
Well, this is probably the closest I'm going to get to work with Chris Nolan (he
laughs). Batman is such an iconic figure – he’s rather dark, mysterious, and a
disturbed damaged guy. But there was always something very, very attractive
about Batman that kind of pulls you in. He didn't have any super powers, and I
think that was one of the things that makes him very accessible and relatable.
It always made it seem that if you really worked hard, you might just get to be
Batman – in the same way that, when I played tennis as a kid, I used to think
that if I hit a ball against the wall all day every day, I could eventually be
beat Bjorn Borg. For me, that's always a remarkable thing. I remember thinking
as a kid that if I just practiced martial arts all day, and I got really good at
the science stuff, and maybe made a few billion dollars, I could be Batman. So
here I am … the closest I'm gonna get.
Suggested captions for attached
images:
Jason Isaacs.jpg Jason Isaacs provides the voice of
Ra's al Ghul in Batman: Under the Red Hood, the next DC Universe animated
original movie. The film will be distributed July 27, 2010 by Warner Home Video.
(Photo courtesy of Gary Miereanu)
Ras_03.jpg Ra's al Ghul has a
reflective moment during Batman: Under the Red Hood, the next DC Universe
animated original movie. The film will be distributed July 27, 2010 by Warner
Home Video. Jason Isaacs provides the voice of Ra's al Ghul.
Ras_04.jpg Jason Isaacs provides the voice of Ra's al Ghul in
Batman: Under the Red Hood, the next DC Universe animated original movie.
The film will be distributed July 27, 2010 by Warner Home Video.
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