Oscar Isaac: Against the Grain | 289

Even the Rich

Wondery

Society & Culture

4.3 • 11.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Oscar Isaac is an actor who’s no stranger to epic movie franchises. Born in Guatemala, Oscar knows from an early age that he wants to do something creative. After landing on acting, he graduates from Juilliard, one of the country's most prestigious acting conservatories. From here - Oscar is off and running. The “Star Wars” and “Dune” actor has made a name for himself thanks to knockout performances in “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “Scenes from a Marriage.” Unsurprisingly, Oscar’s staying booked and busy. And we know that this is just the beginning from one of Hollywood's reigning leading men.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderry Plus subscribers can binge the newest season of Even the Rich before anyone else.
0:04.4	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:13.4	Brooke, would you say that you have a rebellious streak?
0:17.6	Yeah.
0:20.5	I am so sick of everyone's shit. The older I get, the more I want to rebel.
0:27.4	Yeah. For sure. I'm a born rebel, I think, from like the gecko. You tell me the sky is blue. I'll find a reason why it's not. Yeah. Yeah.
0:35.6	Well, today's subject has always done things his way, whether it's gotten
0:39.7	him in trouble or not. As a kid growing up in Miami, he's just starting to find his calling in
0:45.2	school plays when he gets expelled for one too many pranks. In his 20s, he makes the deadline to apply
0:51.1	to Juilliard by convincing the woman working the front desk to fudge
0:54.9	the dates. And in his 30s, he lands his wife after having a long conversation with her at a party
1:00.9	while he's still in character. On screen and off, there's never a boring moment when he's involved.
1:07.5	Today, we're talking about the rebellious and charming Oscar Isaac.
1:18.0	It's December 2000, and 21-year-old Oscar Isaac is in New York City, acting in his first
1:24.3	off-Broadway play. He's on the Upper West Side when he passes Lincoln Center, home of the acclaimed
1:30.0	performing arts school, Juilliard.
1:32.5	And for some reason, even though his family and his ska band are back in Miami, he walks
1:37.3	in and asks for an application.
1:40.2	Unfortunately, his timing is off.
1:42.6	The woman at the front desk tells him he's missed the deadline by a week.
1:46.3	But Oscar takes the application home anyway, fills it out, and brings it back the next day.
1:51.5	He begs her to make an exception, pointing out that he's from out of town and didn't know about the deadline.
	...

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