EF: Jason Isaacs. What a pleasure to meet you! :: reaches over to shake his hand ::

JI: :: accepting the handshake :: Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to meet you, too.

EF: Thank you for allowing us into your den of evil here. :: indicates the set ::

JI: :: smirking :: Yes, this is where I live and spend most of my time.

EF: How did you first become acquainted with the Harry Potter series?

JI: Well, at first there was this rather strange phenomenon where all my friends with children - I didn't have any at the time, do now - but, they were going on about these books and were reading them. I always thought that it was slightly suspect, frankly, that grown-ups were obsessed with children's books. I thought it was a sign that they were poorly educated. Then when I first went to audition I went out and bought all the books, mostly to check which ones I'd be in...you know, purely selfishly. I started the first book...and I looked up, and it was three days later, and I'd read all four of them. Hadn't washed or eaten or taken care of business. And I got it. I understood that they are the crack of children's literature. And she's just, she's channeling something, J.K. Rowling, because you can't put them down.

EF: I was wondering if you could put your finger on it. My daughter has read every book that's out four times each and she can't wait for the next one to come out so that she can start from the beginning again and read them all through.

JI: Four times is very light, frankly. It's very lightweight compared to a lot of the kids who came to the set.

EF: Really?

JI: People would come and visit that set and they knew when a paving stone was wrong. They'd come up and have very long debates on which way the clasp should go on my cape, and when we'd change a syllable of the dialogue - which, you know, obviously some of it has to change - they were mortally offended and would go into a huddle. You know, I think it's a pretty daunting task, for Chris and David to have adapted these things - and Steve Kloves, who wrote the script - to take this thing which people hold so precious and are so homicidal about. I mean, luckily, they're children. :: laughs :: If they were grown-ups, they'd be hanging around their door. And to have done such a good job, and adapted it so faithfully and yet made films of them. They're not just taking the book and putting it on the screen, because that wouldn't work.

EF: Tell us about the audition.

JI: Actually, I found Lucius terribly easy to read. I just think he leaps off the page. Maybe we'll get back to what makes him tick and who he is. I think he's a tremendously well-drawn character and easy to identify with. But anyway, I did the job and I left and I heard nothing from them for the longest period of time. They were finishing the first film and editing it, and they were preparing the second film. I forgot about it and went away and made two films, I think, in the interim and then was offered Captain Hook and Mr. Darling in "Peter Pan", which I accepted. And then the offer came in and I thought, I don't know if I should do this. You know, I'd just committed to being Captain Hook and this was another children's book. I told some of my friends and the phone started to melt off the hook. All of my god-children and all the children of friends that I know phoned up and they weren't asking nicely, they weren't begging, they were ordering me to take this job. Anyway, I was dying to do it, so that's how I got the job.