Nativity — Oscar Isaac — bonus quotes

Last updated on: November 25, 2006 at 10:15 pm by Peter T. Chattaway

Nativity — Oscar Isaac — bonus quotes 2006-11-25T22:15:00-08:00 Peter T. Chattaway

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Movies come out on DVD all the time with deleted and expanded scenes, so hey, why not put out interviews with deleted and expanded quotes? (This isn’t the first time I’ve done this; back in January, I posted extra quotes from the New World junket.)

To follow up my first junket report on The Nativity Story, here are some “bonus quotes” from the roundtable interview with Oscar Isaac, the actor who plays Joseph. It began like so:

PTC: When your name was first announced as the one playing Joseph, I tried to look it up —

OI: It’s like, who? (laughs)

PTC: Yeah, exactly. So of all the things to make your big mainstream break, it’s this very iconic role. How did you approach that?

OI: You know, I’d like to say that I felt a great responsibility or something, but I actually didn’t, maybe dangerously so. I knew that– First of all, Mike Rich had written such a reverential film already, that I felt for me, the key was to make him as human as possible, to approach him like any other character. That’s how I would do him service, by saying, “How is he real, how does he feel about this, how is he different from me, how is he the same as me?” That was the key, to make him flesh and blood.

Later, Isaac said some fascinating things about the way this film portrays the relationship between Mary and Joseph:

PTC: The question of the relationship of Joseph and Mary. You say he’s completely in love with her. I’m struck by how– There were a couple of TV-movies about the Nativity made in the ’70s, they go for that teen romance thing —

OI: Right, right.

PTC: — and I love the fact that this film plays it more the way I imagine it would have been back then, with the sort of arranged marriage, the traditional approach, Joseph interacting with the parents —

OI: You know, that actually came from me reading that book [The Life and Times of the Messiah, given to Isaac by his father; Isaac didn’t mention the author’s name, but he said it was written in the 1800s, and based on what he says next, it might be this book]. The betrothal, him with the cup? That wasn’t in the script originally. I don’t take away anything from Mike Rich, who did a fantastic job of fleshing them out. That was one of those moments where I found an actual betrothal ceremony, possibly ancient one. It was tough because, with the Jewish advisor, there is no real record of what they would have been saying, so there’s a little bit of leeway, but there was a possible one.

PTC: Because the question I was going to ask was to what degree Joseph’s attraction to Mary is emotional. I mean, he’s bought the donkey back, and he knows that the soldiers could take Mary away, so to what degree– He’s drawn to Mary because of her virtue, but is he also trying to protect her for her father’s sake? He obviously does feel for her, but it didn’t seem to me that he was necessarily driven by romantic passion.

OI: I think, it’s tough, because it’s not just romantic passion, because I think romantic passion isn’t necessarily selfless, you know? I think romantic passion is wanting a little something in return. It is a love, he looks at her and he could never stone her even though he wants to. It’s not that he doesn’t want to, or he doesn’t have those feelings, but he works through them. I think that’s what makes him a remarkable character, is that you see him wanting to do those things. It was very difficult for me to stay in the room, you know. In rehearsal, I just couldn’t stay in the room, I would go out and have to kick things, you know, and I had to basically find out why does he stay. And again, the idea of love — you can say that’s a love that comes from God. That’s that Corinthians love — you know, from Corinthians — that seeks not itself in return; it’s meek, it’s humble. As a young man, what I had to connect with, was that feeling of love for someone.

In response to a question by someone else, Isaac talked about the unique psychological situation of his character:

OI: In theological terms, it’s really interesting, because it forces you to think of Joseph in a different way, to really see that he was an integral part of this happening — so much so that it almost didn’t, and if he had made a couple of different choices, things could have turned out very differently! I’m sure God would have found a way, but he had a lot of responsibility. And also, just a very interesting psychological character study idea of, how does a man share the woman he loves with God? I mean, that’s what he has to do. He loves God with all his heart, and he loves this woman selflessly, and then he chooses her, so he can’t have the family that he wanted to, at least not the way he knows it’s going to be. He can’t just live in this little house that he was building in Nazareth. He has to literally share this woman. So how do you wrap your mind around that as a man?

The interview turned to a scene in which a stranger unwittingly rubs in Joseph’s face the fact that the child he will be raising is not his own, and even Mary’s efforts to console him only go so far:

OI: That’s the most important thing, that it cost something. You read the story, and you don’t really get that it cost these people something. It cost them something to sacrifice all this, to say, “I’m going to stay by your side.” And just because God came to him in a dream, it didn’t mean that he still was thinking, “I hope that I didn’t just make that up. I hope that I heard God correctly.” And I think at that moment when he asks for a sign, it’s about, “I don’t know, have I just brought this woman out here for nothing? Is this woman even really telling me–?” I think he constantly — that’s a great question — I think he constantly, even up until the end, is grappling with his feelings.

One of us interviewers pointed out that Mary, Zechariah, and even the shepherds — complete strangers — got direct visitations from the angels, whereas Joseph only got a dream. Isaac laughed:

OI: He’s required to make an even stronger leap of faith — which just adds to his dilemma, man! Poor guy!

Finally, Isaac also made an interesting comment about a couple of the scenes in this film that foreshadow later events in the gospels:

OI: Yeah, the Temple. The moment in the Temple. Exactly, exactly. There’s a couple other little bits that happen where you can kind of say, “Yeah, maybe Joseph did influence Jesus’ life.” You know, the way that he does act with such humility. If you think about the scene in the house with Mary, when he finds out she’s pregnant, it’s almost like the scene with Mary Magdalene, how he treats her with love and humility. It’s interesting that there’s these little seeds throughout the film.

That about wraps it up for Isaac, but I might post “bonus quotes” from some of the other interviewees at the junket. Stay tuned!

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 25, 2006

Watch and weep, Lewis fans. Or, better, don't.

Next Post

November 26, 2006 Gandalf could have made Connery a fortune

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Anglican Planet Articles BC Christian News BC Report Bible Movies Bible Review Blog Books & Culture Campus Times CBC Radio Christianity Today ChristianWeek Essays Faith Today Festival Cinemas Guide Film Journals Georgia Straight Interviews MB Herald National Catholic Register Salvationist Today's Christian Two Chairs Ubyssey Uncategorized Vancouver Courier Vancouver Sun

Select a Month August 2025 April 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 May 2024 February 2024 December 2023 May 2023 March 2023 November 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 January 2012 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 November 2003 October 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 March 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000 July 2000 June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 March 2000 January 2000 October 1999 August 1999 May 1999 April 1999 February 1999 January 1999 December 1998 November 1998 October 1998 August 1998 July 1998 June 1998 April 1998 March 1998 January 1998 November 1997 September 1997 July 1997 June 1997 April 1997 March 1997 February 1997 January 1997 December 1996 October 1996 September 1996 June 1996 March 1996 February 1996 January 1996 April 1995 November 1994 September 1994 September 1991

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city did Paul write his first letter to the Corinthians from?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Rome Corinth Ephesus Athens