Birthday Boy: Oscar Isaac

Happy birthday to the supremely talented Oscar Isaac who turns 35 today! You should know him from his starring role in last year's Inside Llewyn Davis, which should have netted him his first Oscar nomination. Thankfully, he was honored by a handful of critic awards including the prestigious National Society of Film Critics, as well as honored with Spirit and Golden Globe nominations. And not for nothing, but he took the top prize for Best Actor in my own year-end personal awards.

I first saw Isaac in the TV movie The Nativity Story where he played Jesus's father Joseph, but he didn't catch my attention until his wonderful turn in 2009's Agora opposite Rachel Weisz. In fact, I nominated him all the way back then as well for my own awards. Since then and prior to his leading role in the Coen brothers musical film, he's been relegated to small, but memorable roles in films like Robin Hood, Drive, W.E., and 10 Years. That latter film is the first time I heard him sing, which should've prepared all of us for what was to come.

Oscar Isaac in 10 Years

Fortunately, it looks like we'll be seeing more of Isaac in the next couple of years with no less than four films completed for this year or currently filming/in post-production including films with Drive writer Hossein Amin and Oscar-winning The Departed writer William Monahan. But I'm looking forward the most to A Most Violent Year, directed and written by J.C. Chandor and set to be released later this year, mostly because I'm hopeful it'll build on the great momentum he had this past year with the industry.