Oscar Isaac’s favourite heavy metal album: “Metal meets Gregorian chants”
There should really be some kind of fairer system when talent is being handed out, for example, you should be able to sing, or be a famous actor, or be handsome, one or the other. That way, it’s more palatable for the rest of us. No more of this nonsense like Stranger Things’ Joe Keery also being a huge pop star, or Oscar Isaac being a brilliant guitar player and singer.
If you’ve ever watched the Coen brothers’ magnificent Inside Llewyn Davis from 2013 (and if you haven’t then what the hell is wrong with you, go and do it now and finish reading this later) then you will know how good Isaac’s performance in the lead role is, not just as the main protagonist but also as a live singer and acoustic player.
It was the first time the Guatemala-born actor had been allowed to lean back on the fact that he actually started off in a band in school playing Nirvana covers before joining a Christian ska-punk group after graduating, which would eventually go on to open for Green Day.
He decided to go down the acting route, however, and once he’d attended the esteemed Juilliard school in New York, he began to pick up some major roles in theatre productions, although he would still perform live music in local bars and clubs.
Once he got into movies there was no stopping his ascent, a string of small parts in thrillers led to his scene-stealing role opposite Russell Crowe in 2010’s Robin Hood and over the next few years he was cast in several supporting roles in films like Ryan Gosling’s Drive and The Bourne Legacy with Matt Damon.
Then came Inside Llewyn Davis and the performance that showed Hollywood this was a multifaceted actor who could carry a movie without issue. The film was nominated for two Oscars, and Isaac was Golden Globe nominated for his work, aside from winning several industry awards.
Since then, he has moved seamlessly to the A-list, appearing in global franchises like Star Wars, X-Men, Dune and Marvel’s Moon Knight, in addition to huge one-off movies like the recent Guillermo del Toro hit Frankenstein. He’s still a big music fan, though, of course, and an interesting insight into just how raw he likes his rock came when he told the NME of his appreciation for heavy metal merchants Sleep, especially their lengthy album Dopesmoker.
Speaking about the hour-long metal jam from 2003, Isaac said: “This stoner metal album is actually just one epic, grinding track. I’ll listen to this when I really just want to wallow, man. I call it ‘sludge metal’ or ‘metal meets Gregorian chants.’ It’s real head music, if you know what I mean.”
Isaac’s words were enough for Sleep to excitedly repost his comments to their Facebook page, which is fair given he is a proper Hollywood actor and their music is pretty niche to put it mildly.
The actor has several big movies on the way this year and next, not least another del Toro link-up on Fury, a thriller about two criminals travelling together while committing murders. You’ll also see him opposite Elizabeth Olsen in the throwback ‘80s vampire movie Flesh of the Gods, and it looks like he’ll be the lead in a new video game adaptation, starring as Snake in Metal Gear Solid.
