Mr. Isaacs Goes to Washington: Veteran Actor Jason Isaacs talks Star Trek to the White House
Los Angeles, CA (May 16, 2023): Hollywood at Home, the popular insider podcast dedicated to the most exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, is proud to announce this week’s interview with actor Jason Isaacs.
During the interview, Isaacs discusses his career, his approach to acting, and his thoughts on the current state of the entertainment industry. He also shares stories from his time on the sets of some of his most memorable projects and details of a particular after-party with Wiz Khalifa, filming a legendary fight scene with actor Michelle Yeoh on Star Trek: Discovery, how special those special effects are, why he rattles the bars in Congress, and what he does under the covers.
Fans of Isaacs and the entertainment industry won’t want to miss this exclusive look into the life and career of one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors. Listen now at Mr. Isaacs Goes to Washington with guest Jason Isaacs.
Highlights from Hollywood at Home featuring Jason Isaacs:
On fans of The Patriot: “The Patriot, bizarrely, comes up a lot, which is on every July the 4th in America. What’s hilarious about it is that people think it’s a documentary.”
When Wiz Khalifa turned it up at the Spinning Gold premiere: “Wiz Khalifa, who had a joint as long as my arm, and the first note they hit– I thought it was an earthquake, like the building started to shake. It was so unbelievably loud, and the bass was so rich. And then they just rocked the house. I mean, glasses were bouncing off the table. It was so loud, and every time he thought he was getting to the end of a track, George Clinton would come to the front of the stage and raise his arms up, and he’d go “more, more.” It would suddenly go up an impossible notch. They didn’t turn up to 11, they turned up to 111, and by the end, all of my organs had turned to liquid.”
An almost disastrous audition for Star Trek: Discovery: “They said there’s gonna be a big secret. [And, I said] you have to tell me or I can’t be in it. And they withdrew the offer. My agent said, ‘you asked so many questions and you said that you couldn’t do it without knowing what the secret was,” and then there was this kind of reconciliation meeting arranged with Akiva Goldsman. And he said, ‘we have no f***ing idea [what the secret is]! Why don’t you come on board and help us work it out together? And I went and I adored him then, and still do.“
On acting in Star Trek: Discovery: “Thank God I did it. I’m gonna tell you– the first day you get on the spaceship and then you sit with your arms on that chair and you say ‘Energize,’ or ‘Beam Me Up,’ or ‘Fire the Photon’? I mean, Jesus, obviously I like to do things– stories that I value and count and [that] help people….sometimes. Sometimes you want to captain a spaceship. I also got to have a big martial arts fight with Michelle Yeoh, which was pretty cool.”
On filming special effects scenes in Harry Potter: “The fact is big special effects things are boring as f*** to shoot. There’s green screens and the edge isn’t there, and I would wait all day for things to be lined up. Actually, Star Trek was quite fast. But no, it’s not a spaceship. It’s just a platform built inside a studio. It’s a big green box.”
On family: “When my first daughter was born, I caught her. Out came Lily and she was in my arms. I looked her and I thought, oh. I’m going to be granddad one day.”
On what he does under the covers: “I watch all of the singing shows. I watch The Voice. I watch American Idol, I watch Britain’s Got Talent. And I know that it’s so cheesily and schematically manipulatively cut to hit you in the solar plexus system. I am sobbing under the sheets every single night.”
On why he comes to rattle the bars on Capitol Hill to advocate for Arts funding: “It’s not finger wagging here, but we have 60 million people in England. And the budget for the arts subsidy…is about about a billion dollars. And, France and Germany have roughly the same number of people. Germany gives $2 billion in France and $3 billion on making sure that everyone has access to something in the art, something that lifts us from being the animal. You have almost six times as many people here and America gives $207 million to the 330 million people. So I came to rattle the bars. I came to remind people of the value of it.
I remember sitting there the first time [I went to Washington, DC] with The Creative Coalition. You know, the second you walk in the office if it’s a Republican or Democrat — one is austere and full of…iconography of power and military might, and the other is often warm with colored prints that shows they’re travelled – it really is binary…and, you can sense the power; the kind of dizzying, thin air down those corridors.”
More about Hollywood at Home:
Hosted by The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk, “Hollywood at Home” brings listeners intimate portraits, key moments of discovery, and “art and soul” conversations with iconic entertainment industry personalities from the big screen to the boardroom, from L.A. to D.C. Previous guests include Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”), Marlee Matlin (“CODA”), Jason Alexander (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Alan Cumming (“Schmigadoon!, “The Good Wife”), Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The Middle”), Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”), Willie Garson (“And Just Like That…”), Colman Domingo (“Euphoria”), Kerry Ehrin (“The Morning Show”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”), Ken Olin (“This is Us,” “Thirtysomething”), Anthony Rapp (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”), and Alfre Woodard (Clemency,” “Luke Cage”), among others.
More about The Creative Coalition:
Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is the premier nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating its members on issues of public importance. The Creative Coalition also creates award-winning public service campaigns, including #RightToBearArts, to promote the efficacy of the arts. Actor Tim Daly serves as the organization’s President. For more information, visit https://thecreativecoalition.org.
Media Contact:
Max Jordan
mjordan@thecreativecoalition.org
240-506-7913
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