Oscar Isaac

Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada, known professionally as Oscar Isaac, is an American actor born in Guatemala City on March 9, 1979. His family moved to the United States when he was an infant, and he grew up largely in Florida. Before becoming known as an actor, Isaac was deeply involved in music, playing guitar and singing in bands while also making home movies and acting in school and local stage productions. He later trained at the Juilliard School in New York, graduating into a career that initially placed him in supporting and character roles before he became a leading performer in independent film, television and major franchises.

Isaac's early screen work included a small role in Illtown and parts in All About the Benjamins and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. His first major film role was Joseph in The Nativity Story. He gained further notice with Body of Lies, Agora and Balibo, winning an AACTA Award for his supporting performance as East Timorese leader José Ramos-Horta. In the early 2010s, he appeared in Robin Hood, Sucker Punch, Drive, W.E. and The Bourne Legacy, steadily building a reputation for intensity, musicality and an ability to make supporting characters feel sharply individualized.

His breakthrough came in Joel and Ethan Coen's Inside Llewyn Davis, where he played a struggling folk musician in early-1960s New York. Isaac performed music in the film himself, and the role earned him wide critical attention and a Golden Globe nomination. He followed it with A Most Violent Year, playing an ambitious fuel-company owner opposite Jessica Chastain, and Ex Machina, in which he portrayed a brilliant, controlling technology founder. These performances established him as a leading actor able to carry morally complex dramas without relying on conventional movie-star ease.