The Brilliant Way Oscar Isaac Prepared To Play Multiple Personalities On Moon Knight
Marvel Studios' "Moon Knight" television series is just around the corner. Set to debut on Disney+ on March 30, the series stars Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector, a former special forces operative who moonlights (literally) as the clad-in-white vigilante Moon Knight, the human avatar of the Egyptian god Khonshu.
Moon Knight isn't your average MCU superhero, just like Marc isn't your average military veteran. Unlike most other Marvel heroes (at least, those who aren't named Bruce Banner), Marc lives with Dissociative Identity Disorder. This integral aspect of Marc's identity means he is in a constant tug-of-war with another personality he has developed named Steven Grant, a mild-mannered British museum employee. Steven is the first of Spector's identities that the trailer for "Moon Knight" introduces. However, the show is meant to feature both Marc and Steven, teasing that these two personalities will learn to work together as they each take on the mantle of Moon Knight.
It's an interesting premise, to say the least, and it's one that generally stays faithful to the comic book origins of "Moon Knight." However, it also presents many unique challenges. Isaac may be a talented actor, but he's never played a character with DID before. Nonetheless, he found a brilliant way to prepare to play a character with multiple personalities.
Oscar Isaac brought in his brother to act opposite him in Marc-Steven scenes
As we said, this is the first time that Oscar Isaac has ever played a character with multiple personalities. At a recent "Moon Knight" press event that Looper attended, he even admitted to struggling with scenes where Marc and Steven talk to each other via mirrored surfaces. By his own account, finding the "spontaneity" that one might get from a traditional dialogue scene was a challenge. However, he came up with a brilliant solution.
"The first step was to hire my brother, Michael Hernandez, to come in and be the other me," Isaac said during the press event. "It's the closest thing to me there is on Earth. He came in, and he would play either Steven or Marc. He even did the accents and everything. So, that was really helpful to have someone that was not only a great actor but also shares my DNA to play off of."
The "Moon Knight" star went on to explain the exact process he and Hernandez went through, from deciding who Isaac would play first to sharing notes before acting out scenes and eventually trading roles and doing it again. It was a tough task that Isaac admitted was more difficult than he initially expected. And while the final version of these scenes is ultimately the opposite of spontaneous since Isaac must inevitably portray both characters, Isaac and Hernandez's teamwork will hopefully make them feel as spontaneous and natural as scenes with two actors instead of just one.
"Moon Knight" premieres on Disney+ on Wednesday, March 30.