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Oscar Isaac: “The Only Fanboy I’m Interested In Is Myself"

Oscar Isaac: “The Only Fanboy I’m Interested In Is Myself"

Oscar Isaac: “The Only Fanboy I’m Interested In Is Myself"
21 January 2015
Surely it can’t be too long before Oscar Isaac lives up to his name.
 
Inside Llewyn DavisA Most Violent Year
 
Ex_MachinaDomhall Gleeson 
 
Star Warswe imagine it wasn't too far from reality for Isaac.
 
So practicing our best Jedi mind tricks, we phoned the actor for a chat about his career so far.
 
Your character in Ex_Machina uses technology to shut himself off from the world. How private are you with your technology use?
I think we all have to be. Everything is run by technology these days, at least those who live in metropolitan areas. And I’m in New York right now, a city almost reliant on technology, so it’s interesting to think where it goes from here. Email, social media, it all seems to be about convenience and we’re always told we should sacrifice privacy for it. Soon we’ll no longer be able to compete with our own technology.
 
Does it scare you?
To a certain extent because it’s that’s happening - we’re not able to compete with our own industry – we’re destroying the Earth by doing it. Our own creations have gone past us, and that’s an inevitability from a robotic stand point too. And artificial intelligence of course.
 
Have the Sony hacks made you more privacy aware? Has your agent implored you to start using a pen and paper?
[Laughs] No there hasn’t been too much of that, but it has made us realise that we assume a lot about technology. When things like that happen you wonder why we thought it was so safe, or that some camera can’t be turned on by an outside source. We believed it wouldn’t happen and that’s blind faith.
 
You’ve also recently starred in the critically acclaimed drama A Most Violent Year. Do you believe it was snubbed at last week’s Oscar nominations?
To try and pontificate about awards distribution is a very silly thing to do, on my end. So I’ll leave that to the bloggers and those guys to discuss. Whatever gets people to see the movie more is a good thing and very often getting awards recognition helps the box office, which is a good thing, but as for asking why this didn’t [get nominations] it’s not for me to say.
 
You’ve filmed both Star Wars and Ex_Machina here in the UK. Did any of the cast and crew on those films help you develop a taste for anything British?
I’m very rarely not in a restaurant when away from the set, so my tastes are really for the food -  not British food in general, just the different restaurants you offer. In London, there’s a Peruvian restaurant called Lima which I really like, with one branch in Covent Garden and another on Charlotte Street. The other good one is Hawksmoor. Seriously, for me, they do one of the best steaks in the world.
 
What’s been your strategy for dealing with Star Wars questions? 
There’s no strategy, I just can’t talk about it.
 
What are your first memories of getting the part?
Oddly enough, I found out in London. I’d flown over to meet with J.J. [Abrams] and he gave me the part. Before I knew it I was at Pinewood studios, still thrilled and excited even though I had no idea what to expect. To see the way he was approaching it with so much love and enthusiasm, wow, it was a great thing to be a part of.
 
You’ll soon be appearing in X-Men: Apocalypse, too. Now you’re more versed in dealing with fanboys thanks to Star Wars, do you think it helps going into another beloved franchise?Star WarsX-Men
 
Are there any comic book villain clichés you’re keen to avoid? 
It’s not always helpful to look at things as the villain. With sci-fi and fantasy, the story is actually human. When someone writes about mutants in X-Men, it’s not really about mutants, it’s about us. I’m researching the character and trying to understand what was trying to be expressed when they created this character for Apocalypse, and people’s fear that comes with that, what does that encompass.
 
Can you reveal more about what makes him tick?Book of Revelation
 
Did you read many comic books as a kid?SpawnX-FactorX-MenX-Factor
 
Speaking of The X-Factor, are you a fan of any British TV?Black Mirror
 
Miles Teller recently told us he wants to play Elvis. If you could play any musician living or dead?
We’re talking fantasy here, because it wouldn’t happen, but I’d love to inhabit the role of Marvin Gaye. He’s my favourite singer, he oozed confidence and it’s an incredible story. In some other world that would have been fun to play.
 
And is there not a famous musician you look like?Show Me The Hero
 
Do you know many Queen songs?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, a few.
 
We look forward to hearing about that biopic. In the meantime, your workload has been unstoppable of late - how are you going to spend your time when you finally get a break?
Just sleep [laughs]. I’m moving into a new apartment and I’m going to try and shut off for a little bit. I’ll go out and see some music when I get the chance.
 
Who might that be?
TV On The Radio. That’s the band I’ve seen the most times. They played in Brooklyn recently and that was such a good show. I love their new album.
 
Finally, given Ex_Machina is all about mankind’s relationship with technology, will we ever see you dragged onto Twitter?
No. If anything, I need to be less connected to technology.
 
Ex_Machina is out 21 Jan
 
[Images: Rex Features]