Jason Isaacs wishes Lucius Malfoy wasn’t so much of a d*ck

Jason Isaacs, though an incredibly sweet and funny man in real life, is often drawn to villainous, creepy, and sinister roles in films, and is probably best known to many of a certain generation as the bigoted, self-important, and twisted father of Harry’s school nemesis, Draco Malfoy.

When recently asked in an interview for The Guardian what he would have loved to have done with the character of Malfoy Sr. if he’d been allowed, Isaacs responded “Win the day? Get the respect of Voldemort? Not be such a dick?” Not sure all three of those could work together; hard to gain the respect of Voldermort and not be a dick, and winning the day very much depends on the side you are fighting for. But whether he is working for Voldermort or serving his own interests, one thing we can agree on is that Lucius Malfoy is indeed a bit of a dick.

Lucius Malfoy may not be the main villain of the overall franchise, but we get a good idea of what he is capable of and who he’s willing to sacrifice in the name of his Dark Lord quite early on. We are introduced to Draco’s father in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, where not only does he deride the Weasleys for their poverty, he slips the diary of a certain Tom Riddle into Ginny’s cauldron, setting in motion the story that will lead to the terrorization of children, the petrification of two students, a cat and a ghost, and the mental decline of an 11-year-old girl resulting in her almost dying! He then tops the film off by kicking the (ugly) adorable Dobby down the stairs and almost uses the killing curse on a 12-year-old Harry! So yeah… a bit of a dick!

We don’t see as much of him until he runs back to his master’s side upon Voldermort’s rebirth, and we see the once-haughty and proud character become sniveling and pitiable as he finds that he no longer controls his own life and lives in fear of the Dark Lord’s anger, never quite earning the respect he desires. In fact, it is his wife who becomes the stronger of the two, as she goes against Voldermort’s wishes to protect her son, leading a cowed Lucius and a traumatized Draco away across the bridge, both now very different men from the ones we were introduced to. Isaacs is a phenomenal actor, and delivers this slimy villain perfectly — we hate him, we pity him, but we love to watch him.