Oscar Isaac Compares Approach For X-Men: Apocalypse Vs. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Oscar Isaac's career has simply exploded in the last year or so, and the rest of 2015 and early 2016 should take it to new heights. The actor is straddling the worlds of indie film, deep drama, and bombastic action in a way few pull off, with feet in every pool.

The two projects that will put Isaac front-and-center for millions of fans come just six months apart, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December 2015 as he originates the role of Poe Dameron in a sequel 32 years in the making, and X-Men: Apocalypse, in which he plays the titular villain, the elusive "first mutant," an ancient foe. The actor thinks these two things, on the surface both roles in scifi franchises with an extensive film history, are really two sides of a similar coin.

"With X-Men it was great because there's an embodiment of such big ideas, you're not working in the realm of naturalism," Isaac told IndieWire in a recent interview. "Sometimes it's fun to push performance into other places that is not just about the same kind of verité thing. You can go to heightened places in a Greek tragedy or kabuki kind of way."

The actor said he finds it fun, because he's able to do more than just find a character's personality when playing someone like the over-the-top villain. Meanwhile, Star Wars features "such a heightened reality in that regard, sometimes simplicity is your strength." Rather than treating it like a bombastic comic book in the realm of X-Men, the Star Wars franchise is about keeping things focused.

"Instead of getting out all the colors, you focus on the primary colors, and keep it simple and direct."

In the interview, the actor also talks about his first TV role in HBO's Show Me A Hero mini-series.

See where X-Men: Apocalypse, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and others fall on our full genre movie release schedule right here.