Oscar Issac says he was inspired by British comedies such as The Office, Stath Lets Flats and An Idiot Abroad, as he prepared for his role in upcoming Marvel miniseries Moon Knight.
The US actor, who stars as the series’ protagonist Marc Spector, said he loves English humour and had studied communities in north London to help perfect his accent.
Moon Knight follows the story of Spector, a mercenary with dissociative identity disorder, which means he inhabits various distinct characters, including Steven Grant, a mild-mannered English gift shop employee.
Spector is also the conduit for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu, and is soon embroiled in a life-threatening mystery.
“It was set in London and when I asked why, the answer was that we have too many characters in New York,” Isaac told a press conference.
“I love English humour, like The Office and Stath Lets Flats and so much of that humour that I find so funny and I thought there’s an opportunity here.
“What if we make him English, what if Peter Sellers was approached with a Marvel project, what would he do?
“So I started thinking about that and that led me to Karl Pilkington from An Idiot Abroad, not so much for the accent but just for his sense of humour where you can’t tell if he knows he’s being funny.
“Russel Kane was another comedian I listened to as well.”
Isaac said he had taken inspiration from communities in Enfield, in north London, to help him with his character’s accent and “timidness.”
He added that he had also enlisted the help of his brother, who acted across from him to prepare the character’s split personalities.
“It’s the closest thing there is to me on earth so he came in and he would play either Stephen or Marc, he did the accent and everything,” he said.
“That was really helpful to have someone that’s not only a great actor but also shares my DNA to play off of.
“That was something that I didn’t anticipate, how technically demanding that was going to be, of having to show up and decide which character I was going to play first, block that out, give my brother notes and do the scene.”
Ethan Hawke and May Calamawy star alongside Isaac in Moon Knight, which airs on Disney+ on March 30.