Editing Jason Isaacs (section)

===Early work===
[[File:Jason at golf.jpg|thumb|Isaacs in 2005]]
After training as an actor, Isaacs immediately began appearing on the stage and on television; his film debut was in a minor role as a doctor in [[Mel Smith]]'s ''[[The Tall Guy]]'' (1989).<ref name=Yahoo/> He was initially known as a television actor, with starring roles in the ITV drama ''[[Capital City (TV series)|Capital City]]'' (1989) and the BBC drama ''[[Civvies (TV series)|Civvies]]'' (1992) and guest roles in series such as ''[[Taggart]]'', ''[[Inspector Morse (TV series)|Inspector Morse]]'' and ''[[Highlander: The Series]]'' (1993).<ref name=Yahoo/> He also played Michael Ryan in ITV's adaptation of [[Martina Cole]]'s novel ''[[Dangerous Lady]]'', directed by Jack Woods and produced by [[Lavinia Warner]] in 1995.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dangerous Lady Part 1 (1995) |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7e2e2823 |website=BFI |access-date=16 May 2020 |language=en |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801231436/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7e2e2823 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On stage, he portrayed the "emotionally waffling"<ref name=Yahoo/> gay Jewish office temp Louis Ironson in Tony Kushner's Pulitzer-Prize-winning ''[[Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes]]'', at the [[Royal National Theatre]], in its London première, performing the role in both parts, ''Part One: Millennium Approaches'', in 1992, and ''Part Two: Perestroika'', in 1993.<ref name=NTArchive/> When auditioning for that role, he told the producers, "Look, I play all these tough guys and thugs and strong, complex characters. In real life, I am a cringing, neurotic Jewish mess. Can't I for once play that on stage?"<ref name=Pfefferman2/>

After appearing in ''[[Dragonheart]]'' (1996), Isaacs landed his first major Hollywood feature-film role alongside [[Laurence Fishburne]] in the horror film ''[[Event Horizon (film)|Event Horizon]]'' (1997) where he played the role of D.J., the doctor of Lewis and Clark. Subsequently, he appeared in the [[Bruce Willis]] blockbuster ''[[Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon]]'' (1998).<ref name=Yahoo/> Initially called upon to take a fairly substantial role, Isaacs was eventually cast in a much smaller capacity as a planet-saving scientist so that he could accommodate his commitment to ''[[Divorcing Jack (film)|Divorcing Jack]]'' (1998), a comedy-thriller he was making with [[David Thewlis]].<ref name=Marx/> Isaacs played a charismatic honourable priest opposite [[Kirstie Alley]] in the miniseries ''[[The Last Don II]]'' (1998).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mario Puzo's 'The Last Don II' |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/mario-puzos-the-last-don-ii/cast/2000269572/ |access-date=2024-01-07 |website=TVGuide.com |language=en}}</ref> Following that he portrayed a priest opposite [[Julianne Moore]] and [[Ralph Fiennes]] in [[Neil Jordan]]'s acclaimed adaptation of [[Graham Greene]]'s ''[[The End of the Affair (1999 film)|The End of the Affair]]'' (1999).