The Malfoy family had a penchant for collecting rivals in the wizarding world. Actor Jason Isaacs opens up about the inspiration behind Lucius Malfoy.
From the moment we met Draco Malfoy, we knew he wasn’t going to make life easy for our friend Harry Potter. In fact, that sourness seeped out and affected the entire Malfoy household. When we met Lucius Malfoy, played by Jason Isaacs, in Chamber of Secrets, it didn’t take long to establish him as the bad guy. The long, slicked-back, silvery-blond locks didn’t help either.
At the recent Celebration of Harry Potter in Orlando, Isaacs spoke about who inspired him to play Lucius as the wizard dad we love to hate.
Real Talk
“It was a combination of a teacher from drama school who would constantly whisper in this very high voice, ‘You’ll amount to nothing, Isaacs. You will never work,’ and this British art critic, Brian Sewell,” he told the crowd.
He was joined on the panel by Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) and Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom). They discussed the character of Lucius, concluding he’s the kind of guy who is an elitist; He doesn’t let non pure-bloods into his clique because he fears too much change. It’s easier to look down on people and cast them out than it is to give people a chance.
“You don’t need to look too far to find many politicians standing on those platforms,” Isaacs said, “Those issues are never more relevant than today, [but] they are dealt with in this kind of magical world.”
Vocal Challenge
As it turns out, Isaacs was a bit intimidated to join the Harry Potter cast, since there were so many brilliant actors on set. He talked about searching for Lucius’ voice.
"“I tried to come up with the voice, because Alan Rickman, the greatest screen villain certainly of our age — I knew he was in it so I had to come up with a voice I thought that sounded like finger nails on a blackboard. I wanted a voice that irritated you in one syllable.”"
Isaac’s delivery of “Don’t boast, Draco!” in the beginning of Goblet of Fire is probably the best
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Isaac’s delivery of “Don’t boast, Draco!” in the beginning of Goblet of Fire is probably the best example of this voice. Irritating, but great nonetheless.