“Is that what they teach you in theater school?”
But he worried early on that he had blown it with directorMichael Bay.
Theater training?'"
Jason Isaacs in 1998 movie ‘Armageddon’ and director Michael Bay in 2025.Credit:Touchstone; Tommaso Boddi/Variety via Getty
Isaacs recalled on Monday’s edition ofThe Hollywood ReportersAwards Chatter podcast.
“And I absolutely shat myself, obviously, thinking I’m gonna be fired.
I’m clearly declaiming all over the place.
Jason Isaacs in ‘Armageddon’ in 1998.Touchstone
I went, ‘Sorry.’
And my voice shot up five octaves.
And he goes, ‘Is that what they teach you in theater school?
And I thought,Oh my god.
This is my worst nightmare.
And I scurry over to him, and I go, ‘Was that terrible?’
He goes, ‘No.
It was awesome.'”
“He goes, ‘No.
We’ll have you in.
I’m gonna give you a clipboard.
We’ll put you next to Billy Bob.
We’ll throw you a line here and there.'”
It involved sending oil drillers up to the asteroid and having them detonate a nuclear bomb.
Isaacs was aware of how wild that sounded.
“I remember thinking, ‘This is the low point of my career.’
Will I ever work again?That’s what I was thinking.”
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The movie was a huge success, of course, becoming thehighest-grossing film of the year.
Isaacs has gone on to projects includingThe Patriotand theHarry Potterfranchise, in which he portrayed the villainous Lucius Malfoy.
