Jason Isaacs played the emotionally manipulative and ever-calculating Lucious Malfoy, the father of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. The two have a very complicated relationship over the films as Draco tries to live up to his father’s legacy while failing to do so. Isaac’s first appearance in the franchise was in 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Isaacs and Tom Felton did an awesome job portraying the complex and intense dynamic between the father-son duo. One deleted scene from Chamber of Secrets had Lucius hitting Draco on his hand with his cane. The cane’s sharp teeth caused an injury to Felton’s hand but the actor took the pain and integrated it into his character’s response after the hit.
Jason Isaacs Recalls Unknowingly Injuring Tom Felton During A Scene in Chamber of Secrets
Jason Isaacs and Tom Felton brilliantly paired up as the Malfoy father-son duo in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Isaacs’s Lucius is a pure-blood wizard and Death Eater while also being a very manipulative man. He always towered over his son Draco, played by Felton, and always dismissed him for being a wimp.
Isaacs looked very convincing as the calculative character and in one of the deleted scenes from Chamber of Secrets, his character hits Draco with his cane that has sharp teeth when his son touches something when they arrive at an antique store (via YouTube). It seems the actor unknowingly hurt the young boy as he did not know about the teeth.
In the reunion special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, both Isaacs and Felton reflected on that scene where it was revealed that the cane had actually gone right into Felton’s hands. The young actor got teary-eyed but his naturalistic reaction to the hit worked for the scene. Isaacs recalled (via Instagram),
The very first scene that I shot was actually cut, it’s on the deleted scenes. Draco touched something, and I used this cane and went, ‘Don’t touch anything, Draco.’ But I didn’t know how sharp the teeth were, they went right into little Tom’s hands.
And he looked up at me, and his eyes welled with tears, and I went, ‘Tom, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize how sharp they were and how heavy it was,’ and he went ‘It’s all right, it’s good for the scene.’
Felton pointed out how Isaacs had a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ personality where he would be terribly malicious as Lucius but he was extremely caring off camera. He was even concerned whether he had hit Felton too hard with his cane. The Draco actor said,
He’d be this evil father, and when we’d say cut, he’d come and give you a cuddle and say, ‘Oh did I hit you too hard?’ Real Jekyll and Hyde that one.
Isaacs’ masterful ability to switch back and forth with his character is evident here and his character is indeed beloved by Harry Potter fans. He played Lucius in 5 Harry Potter Potter films including the last two Deadly Hallows films. Fans can watch Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets on Max.
Jason Isaacs Joked That He Would Play Dobby in The Harry Potter TV Series
Jason Isaacs most famously played Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise. The beloved franchise is taking on the series format at HBO, with each novel being adapted for a full season. During a recent Harry Potter panel at MegaCon, he was asked about whether he would return to The Wizarding World with the upcoming series.
Isaacs hilariously joked that he would play Dobby the elf as he would not have to sit down for prosthetics and makeup for hours. He would just have to record his lines and steal the whole scene with his voice. The actor said (People),
They’re making a TV show, for those people that didn’t know… [He’d play Dobby the house elf] because you don’t have to go to makeup. [I would] just waltz in the middle of the day, have a cup of coffee, and steal the whole scene.
While none of the actors from the original franchise has been confirmed for a return in the new series, it will still be exciting to see new actors embody the iconic characters that people have loved over the years. It remains to be seen whether Isaacs is brought back in some form in the show that will premiere on Max in 2026.
