Who wants to be an actor when you can support Green Day? 'Frankenstein' star Oscar Isaac has done both! He clues in co-star Jacob Elordi on his days as a Miami ska-punk rock star, before he made the switch to Hollywood.
00:02Yeah, that was the last ska band that I had, yeah.
00:06That was the one that probably toured the most.
00:09You did ska?
00:10Yeah, man.
00:11Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up.
00:12No, not like, it was like third wave ska.
00:14So it was...
00:15Wow.
00:16Yeah.
00:17Oh, yeah, I've seen this.
00:18I actually, I have this saved from when I was a fan of you.
00:21You've got a poster on your wall.
00:22From like a film enthusiast Tumblr.
00:24Really?
00:25I'm not even fucking kidding.
00:26Oh my god.
00:27I'm obsessed with you.
00:30Why didn't you let me talk more?
00:33Why?
00:34Why didn't you let me in us?
00:44Bring him to me!
00:48Hi, I'm Alex from NME.
00:50And today I'm joined by the monstrously talented duo from Frankenstein.
00:54It's Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac.
00:56How are you doing?
00:57Good.
00:58How are you?
00:59Is this the first film in which you have had to saw the leg off a man?
01:05Film, yes.
01:08Lots of videos of me doing it, but that's in my personal connection.
01:12Describe that experience to me, because it must be a bit weird.
01:14It felt natural, to be honest.
01:16I mean at that point we'd been filming for quite a long time and this, you know, it's the scene.
01:20It's the scene of constructing the creature of, you know, the moment and the fact that Guillermo chose to make this moment a beautiful romantic moment, bathed in golden sunlight with Walt's music playing.
01:34And the fact that this is where Victor feels the most at home, the most at ease, the least conflicted, you know, that was incredible.
01:43And then to just have those incredible specimens made by Mike Hill, you know, such detail.
01:49And it would be a mix.
01:50Sometimes you'd have an actual performer there, you know, and we'd put the saw up and then cut and then get the fake one and then saw into it.
01:59And you can't even tell the difference.
02:00And they're just screaming in the background.
02:01Yeah.
02:02I'm the real one.
02:03I'm the real one.
02:04Oh, shit.
02:05I know.
02:06I know.
02:11But you're right to draw out that kind of juxtaposition between like the music and the horrible grizzliness of the scene.
02:16Right.
02:17I feel like Jacob summed it up well in the production notes.
02:20And I'm quite glad I read those before, so I was prepared.
02:23When you said Frankenstein is not to be watched idly.
02:26What have you been saying?
02:28What is the production notes?
02:31Give me those.
02:33I'll make sure they send you the PDF.
02:34Okay.
02:35You're like, I never said any of this.
02:37Yes.
02:38Not to be watched idly.
02:39But what have you been saying to your more squeamish friends and family before they've watched it?
02:44Grow up.
02:46Grow up there.
02:47Just get it together.
02:48Just get real.
02:50But do you have...
02:51It's on a screen.
02:52Get real.
02:53I love that.
02:55When I say not to be watched idly, I mean, I was just saying before, I've watched the film three times now.
03:02And on the third time, I just watched the background.
03:04I didn't watch the action.
03:05And there is a whole movie in the background of the movie.
03:09There's so much detail in it physically and then metaphorically under the film.
03:15There's so much detail.
03:16There's so much nuance.
03:17And it's all deliberate from Guillermo and the respective craftsmen that put the time in.
03:22So if you watch it idly, you will miss what's there.
03:26And I'm telling you, it's like the most delicious little lolly is in there if you just look.
03:32Actually, one of my favourite scenes I wanted to draw out is...
03:35I won't say when it is, but it's a sunset.
03:37And it's this most perfect sunset across the snow.
03:40And I did want to ask how long you had to wait and how many times you had to set that up just to get it that right.
03:46When it's light dependent, be it sunset or sunrise, it's not my favourite day to look at the call show.
03:56For sure.
03:57Because you know you're kind of...
03:59You're up early.
04:00You're up early and you're going home late enough that you're going to be up early again.
04:05Yeah.
04:06But every time that it finally arrives and everyone goes mad and everyone starts screaming at each other and it's like,
04:12There's only one, there's many minutes to do this.
04:14And everyone starts freaking out and everyone's just been sitting around eating peanuts all day.
04:17Yeah.
04:18But then it happens and every time, in my experience so far, you get it.
04:23Yeah.
04:24And when it happens, it's the most beautiful.
04:25Yeah, everyone starts clapping.
04:26And it was worth it and everyone's delirious.
04:29And then they'll show you the shot on the monitor and people are crying, people are being ascended to the heavens.
04:35It's called magic hour for a minute.
04:37It's magic hour for a minute.
04:38But it really is this great feeling that comes over the whole set once you get that shot.
05:08And Oscar, Enemy has interviewed you four times and failed to ask you about your time as a ska punk rock star.
05:17Oh.
05:18That ends today.
05:19Okay.
05:20You'll be pleased to hear.
05:21Okay, good.
05:22Can't say I was a rock star.
05:23I was more of like a local scene.
05:25I think you're being modest there.
05:26Yeah, yeah.
05:27Exactly.
05:28We'll let Jacob decide.
05:29But I've got, I found four band names.
05:31Can you remember them all?
05:33Of mine?
05:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:35I've got the blinking underdogs.
05:37Yeah, that was, that was the last ska band that I had.
05:41Yeah, we, that was one that probably toured the most.
05:44You did ska?
05:45Yeah.
05:46Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up.
05:47Like police?
05:48No, not like, it was like third wave ska.
05:49Let me, so that's, that's awesome right there.
05:52Oh yeah, I've seen this.
05:53I actually, I have this saved from when I was a fan of you.
05:56You've got a poster on your wall.
05:57From like a film enthusiast Tumblr.
05:59Really?
06:00I'm not even fucking pretty.
06:01Oh my God.
06:02What's this?
06:03I'm obsessed with you.
06:04Play it so cool.
06:06Dude.
06:07What did you do in that band?
06:08Obviously.
06:09I was the singer and guitar player of that band.
06:11Yeah.
06:12The wrist, the wrist sweat band.
06:13It's fucking amazing.
06:14Yeah, man.
06:15To do this, you know, in the middle of playing.
06:17I do, I know.
06:18Yeah, from skanking.
06:19Okay.
06:20The next one I want to draw up, just because I found a gig poster that is just, it's so cool,
06:25is the Worms.
06:26Yeah.
06:27Yeah.
06:28That was, that was more like a little more traditional ska and I was the bass player.
06:30Oh, okay.
06:31Cool.
06:32Yeah.
06:33I want you to.
06:34You don't have, you don't have closet heterosexuals on there?
06:35I've got them.
06:36They're coming up.
06:37Don't worry.
06:38Okay.
06:39Okay.
06:40Cool.
06:41Hey, look at that.
06:42This is outrageous.
06:43Holy shit, dude.
06:44Look at this.
06:45This is sweet.
06:46The Groovniks were really good.
06:47They were really good.
06:481916.
06:49This was 1916?
06:51Those good old days.
06:5317, 22.
06:5417, 22.
06:55Ska.
06:56Yeah.
06:57This is awesome.
06:58And you supported Green Day at one point.
07:01We did, yeah.
07:02We did the Warped Tour.
07:03Yeah, there we are.
07:04The Worms right here.
07:05Mighty Mighty Bar Stones.
07:06That's when I say like, we played, we opened for the Mighty Mighty Bar Stones on like the
07:10fourth stage six hours before.
07:13You know?
07:14But that's so cool.
07:15Yeah.
07:16What a time of your life that must have been.
07:18This was like, yeah, mid-90s from like 95 till the Blink-Head Dogs went until 2004.
07:26You did mention the closet heterosexuals and also there were the petrified frogs.
07:31That's right.
07:32Who was coming up with these names?
07:33Mostly me.
07:34I didn't come up with quite heterosexuals though, but that was, you know, that was a personal
07:39favorite.
07:40And this was all around the Miami gig scene, right?
07:42Yeah, this was Miami and then kind of Palm Beach up there, like a little further north.
07:46Okay.
07:47So just paint the scene for us quickly of like, what was Oscar Isaac like then?
07:51Yeah.
07:52So for instance, with the worms, you know, it was mostly like these huge skinhead guys
07:59and then a very skinny long haired brown boy that was me playing bass in the background
08:05with suspenders.
08:06That is awesome.
08:07Yeah.
08:08And these are just like, it was, you know, it was a real scene.
08:11It was so fun.
08:12And it gave, it also gave a lot of the band nerds a chance to be rock stars as well, you
08:16know, cause like trumpets and horns and, you know, everybody was really into that.
08:20So that was really fun.
08:21And it was like an incredible time.
08:23And it was that time when actually I went away from acting and theater because I had
08:27a falling out with a drama teacher in my high school.
08:30And so I was like, fuck it.
08:31I'm going to do music now.
08:32And, uh, and instead of, I'm going to do ska.
08:35Yeah.
08:36Instead of music, I did ska.
08:37Not just music.
08:38Come on.
08:39Just kidding.
08:40Yeah.
08:41I mean, third wave, you know, it was like on the crest of the third waves.
08:43Third wave.
08:44We got on.
08:45Thanks so much for chatting.
08:46Thanks.
08:47Thanks.
08:48I'm pleased to have introduced Jacob to, uh, Oscar Isaac, the, uh, ska.
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