Jason Isaacs just revealed what made him most anxious about joining the Harry Potter films
In the blockbuster franchise, Isaacs played Lucius Malfoy, the father of Potter’s adversary, Draco Malfoy
“The thrill never wore off,” Isaacs said about working with Oscar winners on set
As if joining a blockbuster franchise wasn’t stressful enough, Jason Isaacs just revealed the most “nerve-racking” part of working on the Harry Potter movies.
On Thursday, May 1, The White Lotus star participated in a Broadway talkback after the evening’s performance of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Lyric Theatre in New York City. Issacs was joined by three stage actors from the show: Aaron Bartz (Draco Malfoy), Erik Christopher Peterson (Scorpius) and Matthew James Thomas (Harry). Broadway rewards program Audience Rewards sent Felicia Fitzpatrick to moderate.
Andy Henderson
Jason Isaacs and the cast of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ on Broadway on May 1, 2025
During the panel, Fitzpatrick asked the 61-year-old actor about the scariest part of joining the Harry Potter universe.
“The most nerve-racking is that all of the actors in the films were my heroes,” Isaacs revealed. “They’re people I queued up in the rain to watch on stage, mostly.”
Related: Jason Isaacs Wears Duke Shirt to The White Lotus Finale Event After School Previously Issued Complaint Against Show
The actor first joined the franchise for the 2002 installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In the film, he plays Lucius Malfoy, the father of Potter’s adversary Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton). Isaacs reprised his role for five subsequent movies. His first foray into the magical universe was met with marvelous talent from his costars.
“My very first day proper day was with the late great Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the first two films,” Isaacs shared. But it wasn’t the first time meeting the acting legend. “I went to drama school with his son, Jared Harris, and the days when Richard Harris came to watch us at drama school were days you wore four pairs of underpants.”
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L: Richard Harris; R: Richard Harris as Dumbledore in ‘Harry Potter’
The Patriot actor was in awe while he was on set. “To be standing opposite [Harris] was incredible,” he said.
As the story progressed, and more films were shot, Isaacs got to work alongside more of the industry’s best.
“Cut to many years later … when we shot the courtyard scene with everybody, the big battle at the end, I looked around and there were just Oscar winners everywhere,” the Golden Globe nominee said. “The thrill never wore off.”
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Oscar winners who have appeared in Harry Potter films include Emma Thompson, Gary Oldman, Jim Broadbent, Julie Christie, Kenneth Branagh and the late Maggie Smith.
Isaacs added: “Every day when you go to work on a film set, you get a piece of paper, it’s called a call sheet. It’s got everybody’s name on it and what scenes they’re doing that day. And I still, by the end of it, couldn’t believe that my name was on the list with all of those actors because they’re still my acting heroes.”
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Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy and Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy in ‘Harry Potter’ in 2002
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Although the Harry Potter films are long done for Isaacs, he stays connected to his fictional son, Felton.
“I still call him ‘Dad’, ” Felton told PEOPLE at the opening of Chicago’s new Harry Potter Shop. “So we’re very close.” The 37-year-old last saw Isaacs when he was “about to head off to Thailand to shoot The White Lotus.”
“I was thrilled to watch him do his thing,” he said of Isaacs’ performance in the HBO dramedy.
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