Oscar Isaac Shares His Uncle's Touching Reaction to Moon Knight
Oscar Isaac shares his uncle's touching reaction to an episode of Moon Knight. The series, which premiered on March 30, 2022, is the first MCU live-action show from Disney+ to introduce a brand new lead character rather than center on a previously introduced hero from the movies. In addition to Isaac, it stars Ethan Hawke, F. Murray Abraham, May Calamawy, Lucy Thackeray, and the late Gaspard Ulliel.
The central character, played by Oscar Isaac, is Steven Grant, a mild-mannered Brit who works as a clerk at a museum gift shop. Although the first episode leaves audiences with many loose threads to ponder over, it introduces the fact that the character has dissociative identity disorder, and he begins to grapple with his other primary personality, the American mercenary Marc Spector. It seems that Marc has been channeling the powers of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu (Abraham) to become the caped crusader Moon Knight, getting Steven tangled up with the sinister cult leader Arthur Harrow (Hawke)
While speaking with Esquire following the premiere of Moon Knight, Isaac shared his uncle's powerful reaction to watching the show. According to Isaac, his uncle "suffered with mental-health issues," and "it just felt like being seen." He thinks there was something cathartic about "an acknowledgment of the pain and what people do with pain, and the forgiveness, of how you forgive yourself." Read his full quote below:
My uncle suffered with mental-health issues. He started crying watching an episode of 'Moon Knight' because, I think, it just felt like being seen. There was something there that felt like an acknowledgment of the pain and what people do with pain, and the forgiveness, of how you forgive yourself, and how to come to terms with the child within you.
[Moon Knight celebrates] the power of the human mind.
It's basically saying, We have a superpower and it's the human brain, particularly for those who deal with trauma and sustained abuse. There's this thing that the brain can do to allow them to survive.
Contextually, it doesn't seem like the episode that Isaac's uncle was reacting to was the first episode. Considering the fact that it still leaves a lot of questions unanswered about the state of the lead character, it likely wouldn't have provoked such a profound reaction. Although it's unknown what part of the show he was actually watching when he had this reaction, it is likely a moment in one of the remaining five episodes of Moon Knight, meaning that the show will be delivering a powerful and meaningful arc as it continues forward.
This reaction is the best-case scenario for Moon Knight, which is dealing with the sensitive topic of mental health. If it can ring true with people around the world who have experienced similar journeys with their own mental health, it will have truly succeeded. While its impact on the audience at large remains to be seen, it's a good sign that it resonates with at least one key audience member who is primed to understand its core emotional arc.
Source: Esquire