Oscar Isaac is open to returning to Star Wars but is reluctant to work with Disney following their suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
The actor, who played Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy from 2015 to 2019, was asked by GQ about a quote he made in 2020 – that he wouldn’t return to the franchise unless he needed another house – when he made the comments.
“That was a real likeable quote,” he said. “Jesus Christ. Y’know, people ask you things, you say stuff, you don’t really think about it that much. I said a slightly dickish thing.”
When GQ suggested that he’s softened his stance in the years since, he explained, “I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great.”
He then added: “But if that happens, then yeah, I’d be open to having a conversation about a galaxy far away. Or any number of other things.”
In September, it was announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! had been pulled from the ABC Network, owned by Disney, over comments the late-night host made following the killing of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk.
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A number of famous people, including Isaac’s close friend Pedro Pascal – and most of Hollywood’s labour unions – were unhappy with the original decision to take Jimmy Kimmel Live! off-air, but others, including US President Donald Trump, celebrated the move.
The show was reinstated the following week, but the interview with Isaac was conducted between its removal and its return.
Since he last played Poe, Isaac has appeared in movies including the epic Dune and crime drama The Card Counter, as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Moon Knight. His latest movie, the gothic drama Frankenstein, was released on Netflix on November 7 after a limited theatrical run.
He discussed working with director Guillermo del Toro on the movie, and told GQ about the moment he was asked to play the titular surgeon. “I went to [Guillermo’s] house, just to meet,” he began. “We sat in his kitchen and ordered take-out Cuban food, and we’re sitting there eating rice and beans and pork, and we just started talking about our fathers. We started talking about our dads, and the pain and the joy and forgiveness, and becoming fathers ourselves and what’s inherited, as far as pain and trauma.
And how one moves forward in relation to that kind of a past and either trying to run away from it or trying to fix it or change it or holding onto a lot of these resentments. And at the end of that conversation, he said, “I’m making Frankenstein, and I think you need to play Victor.”
He admitted that he was taken by surprise, del Toro replying, “It’s this thing I’ve always wanted to make, and I just think that you need to be Victor.”
He joked: “And so of course it was an incredible moment, but I was protective of getting too excited. I’m like, ‘Maybe he’s just having an aneurysm right now,’ or who knows – maybe he just says that to everybody, that’s like his pickup line. And then within a few months he was writing pages.”
Isaac said that, within a year, del Toro had the script almost complete. ”We got together in New York, and we sat down and I read basically all the parts and he just watched and listened,” he said. “And particularly the ending, which is so much about how do you move forward with a broken heart and how do you forgive? We were both just in tears. And then it started to feel real.”
Appearing in the movie alongside Isaac are Jacob Elordi as The Creature – Frankenstein’s monster – as well as Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Christoph Waltz and Lars Mikkelsen.
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