Harry Potter Villain

Background:

“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.” Jason Isaacs (on fame)

British actor Jason Isaacs is popular for playing the villain Lucius Malfoy in massively popular “Harry Potter” movies. His performances in the films have netted several award nominations. He is also recognized as the cruel Colonel William Tavington in “The Patriot” (2000, earned a London Film Critics Circle nomination and a Blockbuster Entertainment nomination) and for his roles in “Armageddon” (1998), “The End of the Affair” (1999), “Black Hawk Down” (2001, received a Phoenix Film Critics Society nomination), “The Tuxedo” (2002), “Resident Evil” (2002), “Peter Pan” (2003), “Nine Lives” (2005, earned a Gotham nomination), “Good” (2008, earned a London Film Critics Circle nomination), “Skeletons” (2010) and “Green Zone” (2010), among other films. On television, Isaacs is perhaps best known for playing Michael Caffee in “Brotherhood” (Showtime, 2006-2008), from which he picked up a Satellite nomination for his performance. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his starring role of Mark Brydon in “The State Within” (BBC, 2006) and a BAFTA for “The Curse of Steptoe” (2008). Also a stage actor, he appeared in Tony Kushner's “Angels in America” (1993) and Harold Pinter's “The Dumb Waiter” (2007). Isaacs will reprise the role of Lucius Malfoy in the last installment “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part II” (2010/2011).

One of Empire Magazine's “100 Sexiest Movie Stars” in 2009, Isaacs and his companion, Emma Hewitt, have two daughters together. He speaks Spanish and English and is best friends with director/writer Paul W.S. Anderson, with whom he has collaborated on several films.

Liverpool's Son

Childhood and Family:

The third of four sons of a merchant, Jason Isaacs was born on June 6, 1963, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He was raised in the private and closely knit Jewish community of Liverpudlians, in which his eastern European great-grandparents were founding members before his family relocated to northwest London in the mid 1970s, when Jason was 11 years old. He was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School (HABS) in Elstree, Hertfordshire. When he was 18, Jason traveled to the United States to work as a camp counselor and it was there he discovered a love for acting. While pursuing law studies at Bristol University, he became highly involved in the drama department and eventually performed in over 20 productions. After graduating in 1985, he studied performing arts at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He completed his training in 1989.

Meeting at the Central School, Jason and documentary filmmaker Emma Hewitt have been together since 1988. Their daughter Lily was born March 23, 2002, and Ruby was born August 26, 2005. Although legally unmarried, he considers Hewitt his wife.

The State Within

Career:

With a formal acting degree in his pocket, Jason Isaacs launched his professional career in 1988 and quickly landed a guest spot in the British television comedy series “This Is David Lander,” starring Stephen Fry. His first regular gig arrived when he won the role of Chas Ewell in the dramatic series “Capital City,” which appeared on ITV from September 26, 1989, to December 20, 1990. Costars of the series included Douglas Hodge, Trevyn McDowell and Joanna Kanska. Isaacs made the leap to the big screen in 1989 with a small role in “The Tall Guy,” a romantic comedy directed by Mel Smith.

Isaacs made his television film debut playing Michael Lewis in “Eye Contact” (1991), played Andrew Lehman in the British four part drama “Ashenden” (also 1991), which was broadcasted in the U.S. on A&E in 1992, and co-starred with Peter O'Toole in the TV film “Civvies” (1992). However, it was his noted guest performances on “Inspector Morse” and “Taggart” (both 1992) that helped launch him as a good villain actor. On stage, Isaacs played the role of Cyril in “The Black and White Minstrels” (1992) at The King's Head Theatre in London and Benito Mussolini in a production of “1953” (1993) at London's Imelda Theatre. He also gained attention as lawyer Louis Ironson in the Royal National Theatre London premiere of Part Two (Perestroika) of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize winning play “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes” (1993), staged by Declan Donnellan. The production also starred David Schofield, Daniel Craig, Clare Holman and Stephen Dillane.

In 1994, Isaacs got his first large role in a movie when he was cast opposite Jude Law and Sadie Frost in Paul W. S. Anderson's “Shopping.” It was followed by roles in the TV film “A Relative Stranger” (1995), the Gary Sinyor directed film “Solitaire for 2” (1995), the television miniseries adaptation of Martina Cole's novel “Dangerous Lady” (1995) and the BAFTA winning TV film “Love Up” (1995). He also portrayed Lord Felton in Rob Cohen's movie “Dragonheart” (opposite Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite and Dina Meyer), starred as a detective named Jim Reed in the independent film “Guardians” (with Maurice Roëves) and worked with Alan Cumming in the short “Burn Your Phone” (all 1996) before being reunited with Anderson for the science fiction flick “Event Horizon” (1997). The movie, starring Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, rose to No. 1 at the U.K. box office. The same year, he also played Tony Kay in the TV film “The Fix.”

After playing Father Luca Tonarini, a priest who embarks on an affair with a gangster's daughter, in the TV miniseries “The Last Don II” (CBS, 1998), Isaacs appeared as Dr. Ronald Quincy in the blockbuster disaster movie “Armageddon” (1998; directed by Michael Bay and starred Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton and Liv Tyler). He then costarred as an IRA terrorist in the comedy “Divorcing Jack” (1998), played the role of Colonel Mekum in the action film “Soldier” (1998), which marked his third collaboration with Anderson, and supported Miranda Richardson, Anna Friel, Richard E Grant and Jean-Marc Barr in “St. Ives” (1998). He closed out the decade as Sarah's confidante, Father Richard Smythe, in Neil Jordan's acclaimed adaptation of Graham Greene's “The End of the Affair” (1999), which starred Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea.

Entering the new millennium, Isaacs had the memorable villainous role of British Colonel Tavington in the Revolutionary War epic “The Patriot” (2000), opposite Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin and Heath Ledger as Benjamin's oldest child Gabriel. Under the direction of Roland Emmerich, he was handed a London Film Critics Circle ALFS nomination for British Supporting Actor of the Year and a Blockbuster Entertainment nomination for Favorite Villain (Internet Only). The same year, he returned to the London stage playing a British detective in “The Force of Change.” Next up for the actor, he costarred in a remake of “Sweet November” (2001), opposite Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, was featured as American Ranger Captain Mike Steele in Ridley Scott's war movie “Black Hawk Down” (2001), where he shared a Phoenix Film Critics Society nomination in the category of Best Acting Ensemble, and starred with Sofia Milos and Emmy Rossum in “Passionada” (2001; directed by Dan Ireland). He also had an unaccredited role in Anderson's commercially successful horror movie “Resident Evil” (2002, starred Milla Jovovich, Eric Mabius, Colin Salmon and Michelle Rodriguez), played Clark Devlin in “The Tuxedo” (2002, starred Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt) and appeared as Major Mellitz in John Woo's “Windtalkers” (2002, starred Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater). It was also in 2002 that he began portraying Lucius Malfoy in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (directed by Chris Columbus), the second film in the popular “Harry Potter” film series. The role brought him a 2003 Phoenix Film Critics Society nomination for Best Acting Ensemble.

After appearing in “Peter Pan” (2003), a film adaptation of J. M. Barrie's classic play and novel directed and co-scripted by P.J. Hogan, Isaacs briefly revisited the small screen when he landed the role of Colin Ayres on the Aaron Sorkin created political drama “The West Wing” (3 episodes, 2004). He soon jumped back to the big screen with the supporting role of General James Wolfe in Jean Beaudin's “New France,” which premiered in Canada on November 19, 2004. The next year, he played Mr. Parker in the comedy “The Chumscrubber” (helmed by Arie Posin), DeMarco in “Elektra” (directed by Rob Bowman and starred Jennifer Garner), Damian in the Rodrigo García “Nine Lives” (received a Gotham nomination for Best Ensemble Acting) and Johnny Green in “Tennis, Anyone” (directed by and starring Donal Logue). He also reprised his role of Lucius Malfoy in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (2005, directed by Mike Newell). Still in 2005, he provided the voice of Admiral Zhao in the animated series “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (7 episodes).

Isaacs next teamed up with Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keener, Frances McDormand and Joan Cusack in Nicole Holofcener's well received drama “Friends with Money,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2006. He then starred in the British docudrama “Scars” (Channel 4, 2006). In July 2006, he was cast in the starring role of Michael Caffee on the Showtime dramatic series “Brotherhood,” opposite Jason Clarke. Created by Blake Masters, the critically acclaimed show was canceled after three seasons with the final episode broadcasted on December 21, 2008. He was nominated for a 2008 Satellite for Best Actor in a Series, Drama for his performance in the show.

Still on the small screen, Isaacs attracted attention with his portrayal of Sir Mark Brydon on the six part British television political drama “The State Within,” which appeared on BBC from November 2 to December 7, 2006. The show was nominated for Golden Globe Awards for Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television and Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Isaacs), a 2008 GLAAD Media for Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Anthology and a Television Critics Association for Outstanding Achievement Movies, Mini-Series and Specials.

2007 saw Isaacs star as Ben in a revival of Harold Pinter's “The Dumb Waiter” at the Trafalgar Studios in London, and recreate the role of Lucius Malfoy for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” He went on to appear in the films “Good” (costarred with Viggo Mortensen and Jodie Whittaker), where he received a London Critics Circle Film nomination for British Supporting Actor of the Year and “La Conjura de El Escorial” (with Julia Ormond and Jordi Mollà), the short “The Rain Horse” and the television play “The Curse of Steptoe,” where he earned a 2009 BAFTA nomination in the category of Best Actor (all 2008). In addition, he played Fredrick Line in an episode of “Entourage” called “Gotta Look Up to Get Down” (2008).

Recently, in 2010, Isaacs starred with Isabelle Fuhrman, Mädchen Amick and John Larroquette in the Fox TV film “Pleading Guilty,” portrayed The Colonel on the British feature “Skeletons,” which was written and directed by Nick Whitfield, worked with Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdalla and Yigal Naor on “Green Zone,” a movie written by Brian Helgeland, and provided the voice of Ra's al Ghul on the direct to video animated movie “Batman: Under the Red Hood.” He will reprise his role of Lucius Malfoy in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the two part film from the “Harry Potter” series that will be released on November 19, 2010, and July 15, 2011. He also will play Kevin in the upcoming action thriller “Abduction” (2011), by John Singleton.

Awards:
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