Before The Patriot and Harry Potter made him a household name, Jason Isaacs found himself on a Hollywood set in what would become the biggest box office hit of 1998 — Armageddon. Looking back on that early experience, the actor recently shared a story equal parts hilarious and harrowing.Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Isaacs recalled the nerves of his very first day on set. Cast as Dr. Ronald Quincy — the character who proposes the film’s famously absurd plan to save Earth — Isaacs had just one line in his debut scene.
"So my very first day, I do the one scene in which I speak, and Michael [Bay] goes, 'Hey, what is that? Theater training? Is that what they teach you in theater school?' And I thought, Oh my God. This is my worst nightmare."
But the terror quickly turned to relief. When Isaacs nervously approached the director and asked if it had been terrible, Bay responded simply: "No. It was awesome."
Impressed, Bay kept Isaacs beyond his initial eight-day stint, giving him a clipboard, lines, and a spot next to Billy Bob Thornton alongside a star-studded cast that included Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Steve Buscemi, Owen Wilson, and Michael Clarke Duncan. Despite the star-studded lineup, Isaacs wasn’t always convinced of the film’s gravitas.
"I remember thinking, 'This is the low point of my career,'" he said. "I was playing 'the smartest man on the planet,' as Billy Bob explained to the astronauts what they were gonna do, and I was holding a papier-mâché asteroid on a stick."
Still, the role proved far more significant than Isaacs expected. Armageddon went on to become the highest-grossing film of the year — and a turning point in Isaacs’ career.
