Jason Isaacs

Stumbling into Destiny
Art Doesn’t Just Imitate Life; It IS Life

“If you don’t think you’re the kind of person that has stories to tell, you are exactly the kind of person who should be telling those stories. You have time to find out what kind of storyteller you are and which part of the storytelling process you want to be involved in. This is the time. Tell the stories.”

For many of us, we were taught to believe that we must grow up, get a good education and have a career that we can “fall back on.” And it was no different for Jason Isaacs, who graduated with a law degree before inadvertently stumbling into what would ultimately be a highly successful career as an actor. In this episode, Isaacs shares the incredible story of how that came to be, along with some significant events that confirmed for him just how powerful the arts can be in shaping our world.

Jason Isaacs is a British actor and producer. After graduating in 1985 with a law degree, he decided to study acting and almost immediately fell into a long series of happy coincidences that led him to a highly successful career on television, stage and film. He has been nominated for numerous awards and has won several of them. From playing Lucius Malfoy in a Harry Potter film to portraying a Jewish psychoanalyst in Nazi Germany, Isaacs has covered a broad range of roles, proving himself to be an extremely versatile actor.

What You’ll Learn from This Episode:

  • A disturbing event that became a defining moment in Isaacs’ desire to protect the arts
  • Why he believes that no matter who you are or what your beliefs, art ties people and generations together
  • Why he spent years feeling like he was “faking it”
  • Some of the interesting people he has shadowed
  • The hilarious and surprising event that led him to becoming an actor
  • A glimpse into his profound experience while working on a film about the holocaust
  • How a connection between the fictional Lieutenant Uhura (Star Trek) and Martin Luther King Jr. inspired millions
  • Isaacs’ philosophy on what’s most important in life and in work

Featured on the Show:
IMDb | Twitter