One of the advantages of cinema over other media consists in giving life to people, places and situations in a very particular way: it is the reason why cinematographic incarnations are often delivered to the collective imagination.
Stanley Kubrick, directing Jack Nicholson in The Shining, made him the face of Jack Torrance much more than Stephen King in the novel of the same name; the same can be said of Christopher Reeve and Superman, with the American actor who helped shape the physiognomy of the man of steel as much if not more than the comic authors.
A dynamic that, in many cases, makes some characters true icons, making the actors who interpreted them indelible faces of cinema. Oscar Isaac can also fall into this category: despite the relatively recent status of red carpet star, the actor has behind him some leading interpretations capable of giving life to characters that, in retrospect, could hardly be associated with any other face.
First of all, probably inevitable given the weight of production, the rebel driver Poe Dameron starring in the latest Star Wars trilogy. In 2015, when it was released in theaters, ten years had now passed since the release of a Star Wars movie: the time was ripe for a return entrusted to a leading director, JJ Abrams. Central point, the introduction of new characters that join historical ones such as Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and Han Solo: the character of Oscar Isaac is very close to the latter, both in the role of pilot and in terms of the confidence of character . An interpretation that was repeated throughout the trilogy and then came in other products connected to the franchise, making Poe Dameron a central character in the narrative.
In reality, a few years earlier, the actor had already signaled himself for a costume interpretation: it was indeed Oreste in Agora, a 2009 film directed by Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar. The film focuses on Alexandrian mathematician and philosopher Hypatia, killed by religious fanatics at odds with it because of her scientific research.
Played by Rachel Weisz, among her pupils is Oreste, played by Isaac. The actor manages to do justice to the peculiar historical figure of the character, the Christian prefect of Egypt but on excellent terms with the pagan philosopher Hypatia and the leading face of the clashes with the Alexandrian bishop Cirillo.
More recent, however, the interpretation given in 2021 of William Tell in The Card Counter, directed by Paul Schrader and with Martin Scorsese as executive producer. The protagonist, with a past as a jailer convicted for the conduct held in prison, is a professional poker player, who lives thanks to a pastime known to most people thanks to platforms such as PokerStars, where it represents the leading offer. The protagonist's past, the engine of the film's events, is the center around which the evolution of emotional relationships revolves, leading to the various climaxes of the plot, placing Tell's reactions and consequently Isaac's interpretation at the center of the scene. .
The literary role is instead the one interpreted in 2019 in Dune, first part of the film adaptation of the first book of the homonymous cycle of novels by Frank Herbert, a cornerstone of the science fiction genre. Oscar Isaac, directed by Denis Villeneuve, plays the duke Leto Atreides, head of one of the most important families of the story and father of the protagonist. Despite the brevity of the interpretation, the character of Isaac is an excellent incarnation of the paper counterpart, fully living up to the test.
Finally, two comic interpretations deserve mention, demonstrating the actor's versatility. In 2016, heavily transformed, in X-Men: Apocalypse plays Apocalypse, historical enemy of the mutant group. A mutant himself, in the film he plays the role of antagonist against which the group of heroes must clash, played by an ensemble cast composed of actors such as James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner and Tye Sheridan. by Moon Knight, a recent Disney TV series focused on the homonymous Marvel character.
The peculiarity of the comic, taken from the series, is that the protagonist possesses multiple personalities which have reflections on his transformations into a superhero: an aspect at the center of the plot, which revolves around the frictions and collaborations of these. Never as in this case has the actor shown that he is at ease even in particular interpretations, lending his face to the various Steve Grant, Marc Specter e jake lockley returning a rather faithful adaptation to the comic counterparts.
