Harry Potter star, Jason Isaacs is one of the most well-respected and recognized British actors in Hollywood. He has starred in many big-name projects like The Death of Stalin, The Patriot, Mass, and most notably, his work in the Harry Potter franchise as Lucius Malfoy.
It is quite common for actors to showcase great loyalty towards the projects they commit to, being existing and proud to create something they believe in and still by it for as long as they do. Some actors take it a step further and stick to what they are doing, regardless of whether they come across a better, bigger, and more promising project. This was the case for the Harry Potter star, who ended up regretting this loyalty in the future.
Harry Potter star, Jason Isaacs Almost Starred In Armageddon
Armageddon was an incredibly successful film, not only because of the cast it featured, with actors like Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Owen Wilson, and Steve Buscemi playing central characters, but also the premise of the film, following NASA scientists who observe that a large asteroid will hit the earth. The film was extremely well received, being nominated for a number of Academy Awards. Harry Potter star, Jason Isaacs, also featured in the film, playing a considerably small role, appearing as Dr. Ronald Quincy of NASA research.
“They came back and offered me the … consultation prize of playing the part I played in ‘Armageddon’ …”
During an interview with The A.V. Club, Isaacs revealed that he was initially supposed to play a much bigger role in the film, having been asked by the producer to play one of the astronauts, the central characters of the film. The reason why the actor passed up on the opportunity was the fact that he was working on another project and did not have time to work on this film as well.
What Happened Next To Jason Isaacs?
Jason Isaacs then went on to tell The A.V. Club that this reply of his really surprised the filmmaker, who really wanted him to be a part of the project. Try to get him to feature in some way or the other, he was cast in the role of Dr. Ronald Quincy, which would require comparatively lesser dedication and time from the actor. He then went on to reveal that he ended up regretting this decision a couple of times on set.
“The whole time, I was looking at the astronauts thinking, ‘Oh, I could’ve been you. It could’ve been me in that orange jumpsuit.'” he went on, “There’s tiers of hierarchy on film sets … and any time someone was a bit iffy with me, I wanted to go, ‘I could’ve had your f****** job,'”
Elaborating on this, he revealed that there would be moments when he would see actors in their costumes of the astronauts and curse himself for letting this opportunity go, stating that he would think that he could have been in their shoes. He also added that the hierarchies of a film set were something that he had fallen prey to due to the significance of his role in the film and because of this, he would feel infuriated when someone would ill-treat him.
Source: The A.V. Club
