Jason Isaacs is sharing some eyebrow-raising anecdotes about a former co-star he’s long accused of poor behavior on set.
The “White Lotus” star first alluded to the unidentified co-star five years ago, telling Backstage that a “famous, late, knighted actor” had once “literally physically shoved me out of the shot with his elbows.”
When asked to elaborate on his claims in a new interview with New York Magazine’s Vulture blog published Monday, Isaacs didn’t hold back.
“Oh Jesus. Did worse than that. Was the worst bully ever and a global icon,” he explained. “Did all the old tricks of doing a completely different performance off-camera than on. Yeah, it sucked. I’d never seen anything like it. Before, I would’ve licked the ground that this person walked on.”
Isaacs notably did not identify the actor by name, nor specify the film in question where the bullying occurred. Not surprisingly, his remarks prompted a fair amount of speculation among fans online, with some suggesting he might have been referring to Robbie Coltrane or Maggie Smith, two of his “Harry Potter” franchise co-stars.
When pushed for clarification, however, Isaacs quipped he’s “not so stupid as to even give hints or clues about who those people are.”
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“I know where all the bodies are buried,” he told Vulture. “I often fantasize about doing a junket and telling the truth, and when I win the lottery, possibly that will be the case. But there is no value, other than masochism and sabotage, in telling people the truth about people I’ve worked with or experiences I’ve had. Acting is all about secrets.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Isaacs said his assessment of his co-stars is based primarily on “bad behavior” rather than their on-screen talents.
“It’s selfishness, cruelty, bullying, or people complaining to the person who’s getting them dressed, who doesn’t get in a year what they earn in a day to pick their filthy underwear off the floor,” he explained. “That, or not turning up, or going home early, or thinking they know better than the director, or being on crack and calling prostitutes to their trailer. I come across all that stuff.”
Isaacs, whose credits also include “The Patriot” and “Armageddon,” has drawn controversy with some of his unfiltered opinions in the past. Earlier this year, he likened the production of Season 3 of “The White Lotus,” which was set in Thailand, to “an open prison camp” while speaking to The Guardian.
Appearing on “CBS Mornings” around the same time, he claimed “there’s a double standard for men” when asked if he wore a prosthetic penis in his much-discussed nude scene on the HBO series, arguing that female actors Mikey Madison and Margaret Qualley, who respectively appeared nude in “Anora” and “The Substance,” had not been subjected to similar inquiries.
He later clarified his comments on Madison and Qualley, telling Variety: “I said the wrong words in the wrong way. I used the phrase ‘double standard,’ which I didn’t mean at all. There is a [different] double standard — women have been monstrously exploited and men haven’t.”
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