Jason Isaacs (born 6 June 1963; age 61) is a British actor who portrayed Captain Gabriel Lorca in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. Isaacs also voiced the character as part of the Discovery-themed Star Trek Online expansion, Rise of Discovery. [1]
For his role as Lorca, Isaacs won an Empire Award for Best TV Actor and was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actor on a Television Series. [2] [3]
He is best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film franchise.
Career[]
Before Star Trek[]
Isaacs first became known to American movie-going audiences portraying NASA physicist Ronald Quincy in Armageddon (1998), co-written by J.J. Abrams and working alongside Jeff Austin, Brian Brophy, Jim Fitzpatrick, Anthony Guidera, John Mahon, J. Patrick McCormack, Marshall R. Teague, Peter White, and Lawrence Tierney. Isaacs reteamed with Bruckheimer as Army Ranger operative Mike Steele in Black Hawk Down (2001, co-starring Eric Bana, Tom Hardy, Glenn Morshower, and Enrique Murciano). Other military films include Soldier (1998, with Elizabeth Dennehy) and The Patriot (2000, co-starring René Auberjonois and Leon Rippy).
Stepping out of military roles, Isaacs co-starred in The Sight (2000, with Kevin Tighe. In 2001, Isaacs appeared in Sweet November with Robert Joy and Frank Langella. In 2002 co-starred in Windtalkers with Holmes R. Osborne and Christian Slater. That year Isaacs appeared as Charles Beck in Passionada, which co-starred Seymour Cassel. Finally that year was High Times Potluck opposite Frank Gorshin.
Isaacs joined veteran Colm Meaney in Battle of the Brave (2004). Isaacs would appear uncredited in Elektra (2005, co-starring Star Trek: The Next Generation guest Cary-Hiroyuki. That year Isaacs co-starred in Nine Lives with K Callan. Following this Isaacs appeared in Tennis, Anyone with Debra Wilson. For 2007, Isaacs was seen in the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse where Isaacs joined James Parks and Tom Towles.
Isaacs is also known for his voiceover work in video games. He was the voice of the villainous Ra's al Ghul in 2010's Batman: Under the Red Hood with Brian George, Bruce Greenwood, Dwight Schultz, and Wade Andrew Williams followed by Castlevania: Lords of Shadows (2010) and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (2014), both times with Patrick Stewart. Isaacs' other work that year included the telefilm Pleading Guilty where he was joined by Mädchen Amick, John Larroquette, and Leland Orser. In addition to Harry Potter, Isaacs joined another franchise lending his voice to Cars 2 (2011, with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine recurring actor Paul Dooley and Jenifer Lewis).
2013 saw Isaacs costarring in the telefilm The Surgeon General joining Clancy Brown. Isaacs was then in Sweetwater opposite Stephen Root, followed by After the Fall (2014, with Keith Carradine_. That year, Isaacs costarred in the NBC remake of Rosemary's Baby starring Zoë Saldana in the title role whereas the original costarred Gail Bonney and Elisha Cook. Isaacs also portrayed the primary antagonist, the Grand Inquisitor, in the first season of Star Wars Rebels, in which Brent Spiner also had a recurring role. Isaacs concluded the year in the World War 2 film Fury with Brad William Henke. In 2015, Isaacs won a role in Stockholm, Pennsylvania with past Trek actors Rosalind Chao and Tom Wright. Next, Isaacs was back in video game voiceover work with Justice League: Gods & Monsters alongside Larry Cedar, Penny Johnson, Bruce Thomas, and Marcelo Tubert. With Alice Eve joining him, Isaacs starred in the title role of the short film Lithgow Saint.
In 2017 Isaacs played the role of Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov in The Death of Stalin. Zukov had previously been honored by having an Ambassador-class vessel named after him on The Next Generation.
As a performer on series television, Isaacs appeared in The West Wing in 2004, appearing in the penultimate and final episodes of the fifth season (starring Martin Sheen, with Terry O'Quinn, Ron Canada, Steven Culp, and Natalija Nogulich) and the sixth season premiere. Isaacs also guested on Entourage in 2008 with Alan Dale.
Isaacs' first starring role was as Irish-American mobster Micheal Caffee in Brotherhood. Isaacs' character was a fictional analogue of real-life Boston mob figure Whitey Bulger. On that series his mother was played by Fionnula Flanagan. Isaacs also starred in Netflix' The OA from 2016 to 2019, which also featured Alice Krige.
After Star Trek[]
On 1 September 2017, Isaacs, as Captain Lorca, in collaboration with the dance troupe Diversity, switched on the Blackpool Illuminations, the start of that year's annual festival of lights in Blackpool, UK. This was the first time Star Trek was involved in the highly celebrated switching-on ceremony.
After Star Trek: Discovery, Isaacs starred in Scoob! (2020, with Frank Welker) and Operation Mincemeat in 2020, as well as the TV series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (with Shazad Latif and Simon Pegg) in 2019 and Castlevania (with Tony Amendola) in 2020.
Star Trek appearances[]
Other appearances[]
| Star Trek: Discovery regular cast |
|---|
| David Ajala • Rachael Ancheril • Wilson Cruz • Blu del Barrio • Jason Isaacs • Doug Jones • Shazad Latif • Sonequa Martin-Green • Anson Mount • Anthony Rapp • Callum Keith Rennie • Mary Wiseman |