Oscar Isaac looked to some rather unusual places when crafting his take on Steven Grant for Moon Knight.
At a press conference attended by CBR, Isaac spoke about his unique approach to Steven Grant, the personality of Marc Spector that the marketing for Moon Knight has primarily focused on. In the comics, Grant is a rich playboy, but the show and actor took the character in a different direction. This more meek and bumbling persona took fans by surprise when the first Moon Knight trailer was released, and Isaac's inspirations are just as intriguing.
Isaac said he looked to shows like the British sitcom Stath Lets Flats when trying to nail down Grant. "There's just so much of that humor that I just find so funny, and I thought there's an opportunity here to maybe make something," the actor said. "What if we make him English? What if Peter Sellers was approached with a Marvel project, what would he do?"
From there, the actor eventually landed on the comedic travel series An Idiot Abroad, starring Karl Pilkington. "I started thinking about that, and that led me to Karl Pilkington from An Idiot Abroad. And not so much for the accent but just for his sense of humor where he doesn't know -- you know, you can't tell if he knows he's being funny. And then, I thought about the Jewish community in London and where a lot of that community is from and Enfield as an area and sort of listening to accents that are northeast London. And then just committed to that and found this guy that it wasn't just about accent, but it was also about his timidness but also wanting to connect with people but not quite knowing how. So yeah, Russell Kane was another -- is a comedian that I listened to, as well."
Though the MCU is known for infusing comedy into its action, Moon Knight has seemed to be the darkest entry yet, making it all the more surprising that Isaac drew so heavily from comedic performers. But those sensibilities may add to the fish out of water energy that Grant gives off, contrasting him with the more brutal and mystical happenings around him and allowing the audience into the peculiarities of the show. Regardless of the final product, it's clear that Isaac worked hard to develop his Moon Knight personas to make each one unique.
Moon Knight premieres March 30 on Disney+.
Source: Marvel Studios