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Hi Jason! Your look as Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets seems to be very, well, Julian Sands in Warlock. Was that your aim? (Mike Moloney, Hampshire)

No, funnily enough, it wasn’t. Lucius is a wizard from the old school-here’s a guy who doesn’t make any concessions to the Muggle world at all. I wanted long, long blond hair. I wanted to look like Caprice, but in the end I looked a lot more like Vanessa Feltz.
.....scanned and sent to us by KAY

Movieline /November 2002

Scifi December 2002

WarnerBros. Tidbits (Thanks to myprecious and Martyne)

WB has released some notes on the COS and its quite interesting here are the most interesting parts:

Another major new presence in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is that of Lucius Malfoy, the father of Harry’s Slytherin nemesis, Draco Malfoy. For this crucial role, the filmmakers cast Jason Isaacs (Black Hawk Down, The Patriot, The End of the Affair), the internationally acclaimed actor Columbus describes as “one of the greatest villains in modern filmmaking. Jason’s performance in The Patriot was truly blood-chilling, and I thought he would be terrific as Lucius Malfoy, who personifies the underlying darkness and evil of the Slytherin house.”

For all his considerable experience playing despicable characters, Isaacs found the role to be quite challenging. “It’s my first film about wizards, and I don’t get to wear waist length blond hair and walk around with a snake-headed cane very often!” he jokes. “For me, the fun and challenge of playing this character was making Lucius as grotesque as I could but somehow keeping him real.”

“Jason’s performance in this film is truly evil and insidious,” Heyman says. “There are few people who can play a villain as well as Jason, which is rather ironic given that he’s such a warm and generous person.”

Unlike the other villains Isaacs has portrayed, Lucius Malfoy is utterly devoid of redeeming qualities. “Lucius is a very dark character and a thoroughly unpleasant man,” Isaacs notes. “He’s the most confident person I’ve ever stepped inside and completely supreme in his arrogance and ruthlessness. He is pure evil.”

Lucius’ relationship with his son Draco, a role reprised by 14 year-old Tom Felton (Anna and the King, The Borrowers), is vital to the story, as well as the key to understanding why Draco is such an antagonistic bully. “Draco has a monstrous home life,” says Isaacs. “Lucius bullies him, which makes Draco bully others. He’s a chip off the old block.”

The true nature of Lucius and Draco’s relationship was surprising to young Felton. “I always thought that theirs would be quite a loving relationship, since Lucius and Draco are both really mean people, but I think there’s actually something quite scary going on between them,” Felton observes. “Draco always gets the rough end of the stick and is quite afraid of his father. I was a bit daunted when I heard Jason Isaacs was going to play my Dad, but he’s the nicest guy you’d ever meet and we just clicked!”

Isaacs, in turn, found Felton’s performance in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to be so convincing, he arrived on set “expecting him to be this thoroughly unpleasant, slimy kid. In fact, Tom is a tremendously charming young man and very professional.”

Hemming also perfected the evocative wardrobe for the malevolent Lucius Malfoy, played by Jason Isaacs. “Because Lucius is in a very prominent position in the wizard government, one of the original concepts for his wardrobe was to have me wear a pinstripe suit,” Isaacs relates. “But Lucius is an aristocrat, living in a giant old house in the country and all of his belongings have been in the family for generations. And so I wanted his costumes to reflect this sense of the old. He wears furs and carries this amazing snake head cane and feels himself to be very regal and superior.”

Check out the full interview here: movies.warnerbros.com/pub...2notes.htm

I haven't seen this interview before. Its about Harry Potter and most of the quotes are from JI, here are the best bits:

As Jason Isaacs, who plays Lucius Malfoy says, 'I have brought, frankly, a disproportionate number of children to the set given the size of my part. Chris [Columbus, the director] always puts the headphones on them and lets them say cut and action. And no one loses their temper. There seems to be very little pressure for time. I think that's probably because the whole film's budgeted around filming 13-year-olds.'

Isaacs tells a tale from the Quidditch shoot. 'Chris came up to this group of extras, and he's saying, 'Get a bit more involved. Just remember he's been hit by the bludger and he's going for the seeker.' One of the wizards turned to another and said, 'What the f**k is a seeker and what am I meant to think about it?' Then Alan Rickman said, 'It depends what house you're in'.'

Ignorance like this, however, is rare. Rowling's books seem to bring about the trainspotter in everyone. No one seems just content to play a role. They all want to understand the world, know their characters inside out, become an essential cog in the fantasy. Isaacs, for instance, insisted upon a decadent look for his sneering Lucius Malfoy -- cape, fur, silver-topped walking stick and flowing blond hair, rather than the pin-striped suits the designer originally suggested. 'I said well, he's an aristocrat Lucius Malfoy, he comes from countless generations of would-be wizards and he's like those hideous members of the Tory party here who might be in government but really rule the country behind closed doors and their sofas are tatty and their jackets are tatty but their grandfather wore them. There's no point in being in a film about wizards and dressing like a businessman, frankly. Might as well dress like a wizard.'

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