The Hilarious Inspiration For Oscar Isaac's Accent In Moon Knight
The first episode of the fifth live-action series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon be out for world to see. Of course, Marvel's "Moon Knight" is one of this year's most hotly anticipated releases by the film and television studio. The six-episode series will focus on the superhero-adjacent experiences of a man struggling with dissociative identity disorder.
Similar to the plethora of variants in Marvel's "Loki," the different personalities at play within the title character can vary rather wildly. In addition to Moon Knight himself and a mercenary named Marc Spector, Oscar Isaac will also portray a personality known as Steven Grant, a bumbling gift-shop employee who finds himself at the center of an ancient, deadly mystery.
Given the fact that "Moon Knight" is set in London, it only makes sense that at least one of these identities would have a location-appropriate accent. So, where did Isaac look for inspiration for this particular personality?
Oscar Isaac found inspiration in An Idiot Abroad
According to a "Moon Knight" press event attended by Looper, Isaac found inspiration for Steven Grant in the 2010 British comedy series "An Idiot Abroad." More specifically, Isaac zeroed in on the behavior of "An Idiot Abroad" star Karl Pilkington.
"I was like, 'What if Peter Sellers was approached with a Marvel project?'," Isaac said, admitting that he loves English humor. "I started thinking about that and that led me to Karl Pilkington from 'An Idiot Abroad.' Not so much for the accent, but for his sense of humor where you can't tell if he knows he's being funny."
Isaac also later mentioned that he focused on the accents of Jewish people in northeast London and the London Borough of Enfield when developing Steven Grant's distinct voice.
According to Variety, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige wasn't initially sure Isaac's accent was going to work, but told the actor to "go for it" anyway. "It's funny, because afterwards he told me they didn't know what the hell I was doing," Isaac told Variety. "And they weren't sure it was going to work at all. But you know, in the end I'm glad we did that, because everyone says it kind of makes the show."
Interestingly, while early reactions to "Moon Knight" have been largely positive (via JoBlo), responses to Isaac's particular take on a British accent have not been nearly as kind. In fact, an article in the Evening Standard even drew unfavorable comparisons to Dick Van Dyke's much-mocked cockney accent in 1964's "Mary Poppins."
Luckily, we'll all get to judge Isaac's British accent soon. Disney+ will release the first episode of Marvel's "Moon Knight" on March 30. New episodes will be released every Wednesday until the finale on May 4 (via IMDb).