Oscar Isaac is an American actor who is publicly recognized for breaking Latino stereotypes in Hollywood with his movies and projects. Born in Guatemala, Isaac’s ethnicity has often interfered with his work.
While he was an infant, he moved to the U.S. with his family and as the years went on, Isaac found a love for acting. However, starring in some projects forced him to learn the American accent, Oscar Isaac revealed that he didn’t take it negatively.
When Oscar Isaac Had To Speak With An American Accent
In an interview with GQ, the Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor revealed that he had a very American upbringing while living in Miami. Although his mother primarily talked in Spanish, Isaac had learned the ways of the American people.
Born in Guatemala and having a Latin heritage to his name, Oscar Isaac often found himself getting judged and typecasted into stereotypical roles during his initial days.
When Oscar Isaac got a chance to star in bigger and better movies, the actor was told that he would have to learn the American accent or as Isaac calls it, “Standard English”.
They call it ‘Standard English,’ the implication being that if you speak something else, you’re substandard. Some minority students might take that as ‘You’re trying to make me speak white.’
He further continued,
But I was able to think of it not as ‘I’m going to change the way I speak’ but ‘I’ll be able to speak this way as well.’ I never thought of myself as an ethnic actor. I don’t feel comfortable saying I speak for Guatemalans. Or for Latin men. Or for Latin men that are five nine.…
Starring in the role of Poe Dameron in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Oscar Isaac revealed that he encountered quite a lot of difficulties while shooting that film.
With J. J. Abrams helming the movie as its director, Isaac alleged that he wasn’t given much creative freedom to play around with his character Poe Dameron.
Oscar Isaac Did Not Enjoy Acting In Star Wars: The Force Awakens
In the 2015 film, Isaac was cast in the role of Poe Dameron, a commander in the Resistance’s Starfighter Corps. The actor appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and reprised his role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
As the interview with GQ continued, Isaac revealed that to act good, he needed to fall in love with the character first. However, he was allowed little creative freedom for the character of Poe Dameron.
It was hard. I actually felt the most green and insecure that I had in a long time. I was like, ‘What am I doing here?’ There was not a lot of room to shade in the character.
He further continued,
Every time I tried to do that, it would slow things down too much. J.J. would be like, ‘Get on with it, man!’ Just, ‘Louder! Faster!’ And then I would feel like I was doing that all the time.
Eventually, Oscar Isaac learned to just go with the flow. Star Wars: The Force Awakens received a rating of 7.8/10 on IMDB and a record high of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Isaac was last seen portraying the role of Moon Knight in the iconic MCU series Moon Knight. The actor is currently associated with 8 upcoming projects in various stages of development.
