Jason Isaacs in 'Words of War.' Photo Courtesy of Rolling Pictures.
Actor Jason Isaacs (“The White Lotus”) chatted about starring in the new film “Words of War,” where he plays Sasha, the husband of slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Aside from Isaacs, the movie stars Maxine Peake, Ciarán Hinds, Ian Hart, Ellie Bamber, Harry Lawtey, Naomi Battrick, and Ben Miles.
“Words of War” is from two-time Academy Award winner Sean Penn (who serves as an executive producer), and BAFTA-nominated and Emmy award-winning director James Strong, who directed from a screenplay by Eric Poppen.
Colin Powell once said: “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” Jason Isaacs embodies this wise quote.
Background on the movie
In “Words of War,” journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s (Maxine Peake) brave crusade, fighting to be an independent voice of truth for the Russian people, puts her own life in jeopardy.
Anna’s voice was silenced but her legacy lives on. Anna’s story serves as a reminder of the dangers that journalists face and the importance of protecting their right to report the news without fear of death or reprisal.
Isaacs was drawn to playing Sasha for several reasons. “What I loved most was working with Maxine Peake, who I have been a huge fan of for a long time, and secondly, every now and again, you get to tell stories about something,” he said.
“It is enough to entertain, it is enough to grip people and give them something to talk about afterwards. We made a film that makes people think about their lives and look at the headlines,” he elaborated.
“This is about Russia in the early 2000s, but it is also about the press freedom that is being taken away today,” he explained.
Lessons learned from ‘Words of War’
On the lessons learned from “Words of War,” Isaacs responded, “I don’t think this film taught me anything about myself.”
“It taught me to watch around me, to ask questions, to check where I am getting my sources, to make sure I trust and support independent, proper mainstream media, and not believe the nonsense I read online,” he elaborated.
Isaacs on success
Regarding his definition of the word success, Isaacs shared, “I don’t know. I don’t think about success. I think about satisfaction. I want to go to bed feeling like I’ve had a worthwhile day, and I’ve done something that maybe other people thought was worthy.”
Closing thoughts on ‘Words of War’
For fans and viewers, Isaccs remarked about “Words of War,” “So, I don’t ever want people to get one thing out of it. If it was a message or a bumper sticker, that’s what I would make.”
“I want people to think about where they get their information from and what kind of silo they are in of confirmation bias,” he noted.
“I want them to continue to be curious and to fight for the freedoms that we have because once we lose them, we don’t get those freedoms back,” he acknowledged.
“I want people to watch it, to think about their life, and think about what’s it like to be an ordinary person doing extraordinary things,” Isaacs concluded.
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