Oscar Isaac Considered Quitting Acting Before Returning to the Theater

May 2024 · 2 minute read

With appearances in the Star Wars saga and even an X-Men movie, Oscar Isaac's résumé is as packed as any working actor could want — and he was ready to step away from it all before starring in the Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. Isaac, a bona fide internet daddy and certified heartthrob, explained that the pandemic made him reconsider his career and afforded him the opportunity to consider pursuing his other interests. 

"I remember we were talking about it pre-pandemic," he told Entertainment Weekly of his initial conversations with the play's director, Anne Kauffman. "We were both in a similar place where we were like, 'I don't know if we want to do this anymore. Like theater. Acting. I don't know. I'm just interested in other things.' And she's like, 'Yeah, this might be my last thing and if it doesn't happen, maybe I won't do it anymore.'"

He explained that being on stage with a live audience gave him renewed energy and made him fall in love with his craft again. His past theater credits include roles in A Doll's House and We Live Here.

"There was already an energy there," he said. "It was just a pure love for this thing and what it could be without any other trappings around its reception or what it would mean or anything else. It was just, 'There's something here and it speaks to us and maybe there's an opportunity to do it. Let's see.'"

Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

According to EW, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window chronicles Sidney (Isaac's character) and his wife Iris (played by Rachel Brosnahan)'s lives together as they try to navigate being artists in Greenwich Village during the early 1960s. The play was written after Hansberry gained critical acclaim for A Raisin in the Sun. The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window is nominated at this year's Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play and Best Featured Actress in a Play for Miriam Silverman's take on Mavis Bryson. It will run on Broadway through July 2 for any fans that want to catch Isaac in the act.

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