'Moon Knight' star Oscar Isaac explains why they decided to make the Marvel character British: 'We just have too many characters in New York'
- In "Moon Knight," Oscar Isaac speaks in an unusual British accent.
- Isaac said during the show's press conference that he was told that the show will be based in London.
Oscar Isaac, the lead actor in the "Moon Knight" series, said during the show's press conference that they decided to make Steven Grant British because there were "too many characters in New York."
The series, which airs new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+, focuses on Steven Grant (Isaac) a gift shop employee living in London. During the show's press conference last month, Isaac said that his character was meant to be an "ex-pat," a person who lives outside their native country, but he wanted to take this one step further.
"I mean, I love English humor, like 'The Office' and 'Stath Lets Flats,'" the "Star Wars" actor said. "And there's just so much of that humor that I just find so funny, and I thought there's an opportunity here to maybe make something. What if we make him English?"
He added: "I started thinking about that, and that led me to Karl Pilkington from 'An Idiot Abroad.' And not so much for the accent but just for his sense of humor where he doesn't know. You can't tell if he knows he's being funny."
Isaac then said he focused his accent on Jewish communities in London such as Enfield. While he did not explain a reason for this, Moon Knight is canonically Jewish in the comics.
He added that it "wasn't just about accent, but it was also about his timidness but also wanting to connect with people but not quite knowing how."
The "Dune" actor also told RadioTimes that he had presented this idea to Kevin Feige who approved of it.
While the accent has divided fans, Isaac told Empire (via The Mary Sue) that the accent is meant to be "weird on purpose" because it's meant to reflect an American who has developed an English accent.
New episodes of "Moon Knight" are out on Wednesdays on Disney+.