The Inside Llewyn Davis star reveals what makes his unlikely folk hero tick.
Unforgettable characters: One of the main cinematic traits the Coen brothers are especially known for. Essentially a two-man movie-making institution, Joel and Ethan Coen have had an illustrious career, directing a DVD shelf full of classics including Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and Raising Arizona to name a few, plus the more recent Oscar-winning glories of 2008’s No Country for Old Men and 2012’s True Grit. They’re all populated with people we’d love to get to know – or rather see the back of – and their latest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, is no exception.
The film tracks a few days in the life of a struggling folk musician in search of an audience for his gigs, royalties for his records, and people to like him. It’s set in the fledgling Greenwich Village folk scene of a snowy New York City, and unlike the movement’s more prominent artists such as Bob Dylan or Dave Van Ronk (the latter of which the film is largely based on), Llewyn Davis has no winter coat, no money, and no future. Llewyn strikes a hunched figure, equally tragic and hilarious, with the role falling to up-and-coming star Oscar Isaac to bring him to life, warts and all.
When faced with how much the neurotic character compares to himself, Isaac sees the fictional folk star brushed with strokes from his own personality, along with what the Coens planned for the character’s complex, tough-to-love make-up. ‘I think any time one plays a role, it’s that person,’ he explains. ‘That’s just the reality of it. But you’re also interpreting this world created by the Coens; so I’d say half of the character is what I brought to it, and the other half is what the Coens brought to it.’ Taking a millisecond to consider this, Isaac amends his answer; ‘I won’t even say that’s right. Half of the character is me, and the other half is the movie.’ He’s referring to, of course, the ‘unusual’ structure of Inside Llewyn Davis, where there is no real plot to speak of; without any predefined goals, we follow Llewyn around frostbitten New York (including a brief detour to Chicago), a story as seemingly aimless as both his life and his professional career. It has its ups and downs, its small triumphs and frequent disappointments – all of which Llewyn experiences first-hand. ‘The movie is the character,’ Isaac continues. ‘It’s called Inside Llewyn Davis, and that’s what it is.’
Fortunately for him, Isaac has enjoyed what Llewyn never seems to achieve; success. Most recently, he’s enjoyed stints in The Bourne Legacy, Drive, Robin Hood and Sucker Punch, but Inside Llewyn Davis is his first lead role. He was a lucky discovery for the Coens, as before deciding to make the movie, they hit the small problem of finding someone who was a brilliant actor, and a brilliant musician – with the charisma to match. Their solution turned out to be Isaac; with a healthy roster of roles under his belt playing nasty yet-likeable characters, and much experience playing in bands when he was younger (The Blinking Underdogs was the name of his band while growing up in Miami, Florida), he made a perfect fit for the ridiculously talented and unspeakably self-important Llewyn.
Once shooting was underway, Isaac’s own musical know-how was put to the test amid similarly talented company, including long-time Coen music supervisor T-Bone Burnett and some platinum-selling co-stars. ‘I was very much intimated by T-Bone, as he’s such a legend, and Justin Timberlake, and Marcus Mumford,’ – Mumford was also a music supervisor on the movie. ‘They are people who just dedicate their whole life to music. But when I arrived, there was no ego – the Coens, they get people who are philosophically aligned.’
2014 sees plenty of chances for Isaac to further prove his acting chops; period drama The Two Faces of January will see him perform alongside heavyweights Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen, while Ex Machina will pit him against Domhnall Gleeson in a science-fiction setting. But it’s difficult to see a performance as dedicated, nuanced and empathetic as the one the actor gives in Inside Llewyn Davis. The Coens give the grace of the audience to decide, once the curtains have gone up on this sure-fire Oscar contender, whether the folk singer is left with nothing to hope with, or everything to live for. When Time Out tells Isaac our opinion that the movie has a ‘happy’ ending, he replies concededly, ‘I wouldn’t describe it as “happy”. But I think there’s hopefulness in it’.
Inside Llewyn Davis will be released in the UAE later this month.
