Entertainment

How Oscar Isaac went from being a ska musician in Florida to a lead in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

Ian Phillips

2015-12-22T22:36:00Z

star wars the force awakens poe dameron — You may not know Oscar Isaac's name yet, but you will after his role in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Disney/Lucasfilm

Oscar Isaac is one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood right now and he's only about to get bigger.

Often compared to 1970s movie stars like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Isaac has become known in the past few years for churning out dark, brilliant performances in "Drive," "Inside Llewyn Davis," and 2014's "A Most Violent Year".

2015 has already been a stellar year for 36-year-old actor.

After an excellent performance in sci-fi indie "Ex Machina" and a lead role in HBO miniseries "Show Me a Hero," Isaac has his first blockbuster role in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

With an upcoming role in next year's "X-Men" sequel on the horizon, it looks Isaac is truly about to become a huge movie star.

See how Oscar Isaac went from class troublemaker to future blockbuster star.

Oscar Isaac Hernandez was born in 1979 in Guatemala. His family left and moved all around the United States before finally settling in Miami.

Source: Details

Isaac shortened his name as a young actor in Miami to avoid being cast as the "Latino Gangster." "Being called Oscar Hernández in Miami is like being called John Smith; there are 15 pages of us in the phone book." said Isaac in 2014.

Source: The Telegraph

As a kid, he frequently got into trouble. In the seventh grade, Isaac was expelled from private school for many reasons, one of them being that he broke into somebody's ranch who bordered his school, and pet the animals.

Isaac liked to cause trouble at his private grade school when he was growing up. “I set off a fire extinguisher in the gym, defaced a mural, just stupid stuff,” he told The Globe And Mail in an interview.

Source: Details

After a hurricane wiped out that private school, his family moved to Palm Beach, where he attended public school and started learning music. His specialty was guitar.

Source: Details

Isaac served as frontman for a ska band called the Blinking Underdogs. The band had moderate success, performing at Warped Tour and opening once for Green Day.

Source: The Telegraph

Isaac trained at Juilliard, one of the best acting programs in the world. During his time there from 2001 to 2005, he became close friends with future Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain.

Source: USA Today; The Juilliard Journal

His first major movie role was in "All About the Benjamins" in 2002 as a guy named Frank.

His first credited film role is in "Illtown" as "Pool Boy."

He got a lot of screen time playing Joseph in 2006's biblical re-telling "The Nativity Story." While on set, Isaac reportedly formed such a deep bond with a donkey named Gilda that he requested it be flown with them between countries.

Oscar Isaac Nativity Story — Oscar Isaac in "The Nativity Story." New Line Cinema via YouTube

Source: About Entertainment

One of his first standout roles was in 2011's "Drive" alongside Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. Isaac's performance in the film is brief, but memorable as an ex-convict.

Oscar Isaac Drive — Oscar Isaac in "Drive." FilmDistrict via YouTube

After years of small but impressive roles, Isaac landed his big break as a struggling folk singer in 2013's "Inside Llewyn Davis."

Oscar Isaac Inside Llewyn Davis — Oscar Isaac in "Inside Llewyn Davis." CBS Films via YouTube

To prepare for his audition, Isaac learned some guitar tricks from Erik Franzen, who played with Dave Van Ronk, the musician in which Llewyn Davis is based off of.

Source: Rolling Stone

In 2014's "A Most Violent Year," he gave a quiet, subdued performance as a businessman who refuses to turn to crime. His brush with awards season continued after he won an award from New York Film Critics Online.

This spring, he made another scene-stealing performance when he transformed his look once again to become an eccentric billionaire scientist in the sci-fi thriller "Ex Machina." And that's just the beginning of his banner year.

Ex Machina Oscar Isaac — Oscar Isaac in "Ex Machina." A24 YouTube Channel

Source: Esquire

Isaac does a lot of research and reading for his roles. In "Ex Machina," he modeled Nathan after controversial chess legend Bobby Fischer as well as director Stanley Kubrick.

Oscar Isaac Ex Machina — Oscar Isaac in "Ex Machina." A24 via YouTube

"Bobby Fischer was someone I fell upon—the idea that he's from the Bronx, self-taught, he's a chess genius, he had an Olympic trainer training him while he was preparing for his chess battles in, like, swimming, bodybuilding, gratuitous exercise..." Isaac explained to Esquire. "And I also thought on the lighter end of the spectrum was [Stanley] Kubrick. He was also from the Bronx, also self-taught, also a chess genius, and also a photographic genius. He thought so many moves ahead. I listened to his speech patterns."

Isaac also appeared in August's HBO miniseries "Show Me a Hero" from "The Wire" creator David Simon.

Oscar Isaac Show Me A Hero HBO — Oscar Isaac in "Show Me a Hero." HBO

Isaac ended up being the perfect man for the project. "I don't mind saying that I was floating without a green light until I got an actor that they could look at and say, 'This guy can drive it,'" "Show Me a Hero" creator David Simon told Details. "He was an immediate hit in the HBO offices. I can't do this project without an Oscar Isaac committing to it."

Source: Details

You can also see him give a tour-de-force performance as a drifter with a moral compass in "Mojave."

mojave oscar isaac — Oscar Isaac in "Mojave." Tribeca

His blockbuster debut as Poe Dameron in "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens" has been a long time coming. For the role, he read up extensively on what it's like to be a pilot in war.

star wars episode vii trailer poe dameron — Oscar Isaac in "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens." Lucasfilm

Source: Esquire

He attended his first ever Comic-Con this year with the rest of the "Star Wars" crew. However, Isaac was one of few people there to kick-off two huge movies.

The other is the upcoming "X-Men: Apocalypse." In 2016, you'll be able to see him play the much feared X-Men villain Apocalypse.

Don't be surprised if you see him in more big roles soon. It's about to be a big year for Isaac.

Movies Star Wars