From the outside looking in, being an A-list Hollywood movie star may seem like a pretty sweet gig, as fame certainly has its benefits, after all. Jason Isaacs isn’t an actor without fame, given he's appeared in major TV shows and movies, including one of the most iconic franchises of all time. However, the White Lotus alum isn’t quite among the top tier of the most famous movie stars in the world. It turns out that it works out just fine for him, and he has a Mel Gibson-related to story to illustrate that.
Jason Isaacs isn’t a leading man with his own blockbuster action movie franchise, but he has played opposite many actors who have done exactly that. Vulture recently asked the Harry Potter alum how it feels to see the likes of Daniel Craig become huge stars, and he relayed a story from his time working with Mel Gibson, which taught him there’s a downside to global fame he doesn’t really want. Isaacs said…
I remember we were in a motel somewhere while filming The Patriot, and I phoned Mel Gibson in his room and said, ‘Dude, come down. We’re doing karaoke in the bar. It’s just the cast and crew, there’s no one else here.’ He goes, ‘No, I’ll ruin it for everybody.’ And I went, ‘Come out to the bar, it’ll be fine.’ He came downstairs, and within five minutes the bar man must have phoned someone and the place was full. I became his de facto bodyguard. Women were pawing at him and men were drunkenly putting their arms around his neck. And that’s what it’s like. Maybe the financial security would be great. But the rest of it’s awful.
Mel Gibson was indeed a highly sought-after actor years ago, having solidified his place in the business as the lead of the Max Max franchise (which he's done with now) and other films. Not only that, Gibson was even courted for James Bond years ago.
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At this point, Gibson likely no longer has to deal with that level of fame he had back in the late 1990s. Still, it’s not difficult to see Jason Isaacs' point. Gibson knew that simply being in public was going to draw crowds, so he felt he would ruin the experience for others if he showed up to karaoke and ended up doing exactly that. The alternative was to sit out an experience where others are having fun, which doesn’t sound like fun either.
Jason Isaacs says that he was offered a lot of “heavy” roles playing opposite “A-list macho movie stars” following his success on The Patriot. He largely turned them down to play smaller roles and appear on stage. While he admits he regrets turning them down because of the money he would have made, he doesn’t regret doing it because of how they might have impacted his career. There’s at least an argument they could have made him a bigger star, but he seems fine with that.
Of course, as previously alluded to, Isaacs hasn't avoided major movie and TV projects entirely. He was a key part of the Harry Potter cast and was a major focus of attention on the latest season of HBO's The White Lotus (on which he performed a nude scene).
I wouldn't be surprised if gets the odd stranger asking for a picture or an autograph here and there. Yet he doesn't have to deal with fame to the degree that the likes of Tom Cruise or Dwayne Johnson likely would in the same situation. Given that Isaacs still gets to work consistently and not be hounded by the public, I'd say he has the best of both worlds. You can stream his work on The White Lotus using a Max subscription.
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