The Real Reason Jason Isaac Almost Passed on Cary Grant Role

Jason Isaacs in 'Archie'

The new four-part series Archie (premiering Dec. 7 on the streaming service BritBox), chronicles the life of Cary Grant—born Archibald Alec Leach—and stars Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs in the title role. Though Isaacs is a fellow British thespian and even attended the University of Bristol (located square in Grant’s hometown), he admits he had his work cut out for him in preparing for Archie.

“I knew nothing about him and don’t think I’d seen that many of his films,” says Isaacs, 60, a Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee who’s probably best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. He talks to Parade about getting to know Cary Grant.

How do you embody Cary Grant without impersonating him? 

Well, this is meant to capture the essence of a person in history. And I realized early on that I wasn’t playing Cary, because Cary Grant was playing a character. He didn’t look like that; he didn’t walk like that. He constructed everything with incredible intelligence and ferocity, and he ended up curating a brand for 30 years. I read biographies and I spoke to Jennifer [Grant, his daughter] and Dyan [Cannon, his ex-wife] and watched the movies. But the biggest thing that helped me was hearing an audio interview that he did near the end of his life. Nobody had ever heard it.

What was so remarkable about that interview? 

At 82, he was a businessman and a father. And he had, in many ways, found the peace that he thought he’d find through universal love and being adored by the world. And he sounded nothing like he did in the movies.

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Was this a role you were seeking out? 

No, are you kidding me? For whatever reason, the producers came to my door and my first, second, third and thousandth instinct was no. Why would anyone want to play a smooth, suave icon? Then I read the script and it wasn’t about Cary Grant—it was a story about Archie Leach [Grant's real name]. It led me to a tremendously messed-up human being who had this terrible childhood and had to reinvent himself in order to find people who loved him. That’s incredibly complicated for an actor.

What really surprised you about him while doing the research? 

As a father, he desperately wanted to be the antidote to the parents that he had...or didn’t have. He focused everything on Jennifer, which would be overwhelming for any child. But he was nonetheless a loving father. But he was a terrible husband. I read testimonies of court documents from his divorces. Talking to Dyan, I saw how vulnerable she still is. She’s still healing from those scars. She told me things I will never tell anyone.

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In terms of his movie stardom, do you think there’s a comparable actor working today? 

No, because his films were massively popular. George Clooney is a very interesting man, good actor and a great producer and director, but he doesn’t have the commercial clout Cary Grant had in those days. Now people are home watching television.

Do you think enough people still remember him? 

No, no, I don’t. But he didn’t care. He loved being a businessman. He was a co-owner of a Hollywood racetrack and went down there every day. He wanted to see people go through the turnstiles. The films were, as he said, quoting [Alfred] Hitchcock, “just movies.”

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Do you agree with that sentiment? 

Oh God. I’ve done maybe 200 things in my career and only a handful of them were useful. I did Angels in America on the stage, which I did think changed people’s lives. And I continue to meet people who have read the Harry Potter books and seen the movies, and the stories from Hogwarts gave them hope. But I’m not sure anything else I’ve done on camera will live longer than a certain period of time. So, none of it matters. I mean, it matters to me. But I think experiences matter, too.

Stream Archie on BritBox starting on Dec. 7

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