After 1995’s Bad Boys put him on the map as a filmmaker, Michael Bay is now one of the most well-known directors working in Hollywood. He followed this action flick up with The Rock in 1996, with both establishing the director’s unique style and penchant for over-the-top mayhem. Later films like Pearl Harbor (2001) and The Island (2005) further established the filmmaker, but it was the release of the first live-action Transformers movie in 2007 that set Bay down a path that would define the next decade of his career.

Bay has now made five Transformers movies in total, departing the franchise as a director with The Last Knight in 2017, though he remains on board as a producer. Since leaving the world of fighting robots behind, Bay has directed films like 6 Underground (2019) and Ambulance (2022), and he currently has several projects in the works, including a film called Robopocalypse. Though Bay remains best known to many for his work in the Transformers franchise, there is one late ’90s Bruce Willis collaboration that remains one of his most celebrated films.

Jason Isaacs Thought Michael Bay Was Firing Him On Armageddon

The Harry Potter Franchise Star Thought He Blew It On The First Day

Armageddon

actor Jason Isaacs recalls thinking Bay was firing him on his first day of filming. Released in 1998 and marking Bay’s follow-up to The Rock, the disaster flick stars Willis and Ben Affleck as oil drillers who are recruited for a NASA mission to stop an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Armageddon was a hit with audiences, grossing over $553 million worldwide. The film features a stacked cast that includes Owen Wilson, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Clarke Duncan, with Isaacs playing a supporting role as Ronald Quincy, a NASA scientist.

During a recent interview on THR‘s Awards Chatter podcast, Isaacs reveals that his first day of filming on Armageddon included a rollercoaster of emotions. The actor recalls getting called out by Bay after doing a scene, with the director asking in front of everyone if Isaacs had gone to theater school. Though Isaacs thought this was a precursor to getting fired, Bay ended up having a very different reaction. Check out Isaacs recollection of the moment below:

“So my very first day, I do the one scene in which I speak, and Michael Bay goes, ‘Hey, what is that? Theater training?’ And I absolutely shat myself, obviously, thinking I’m gonna be fired. I’m clearly declaiming all over the place. I went, ‘Sorry.’ My voice sH๏τ up five octaves. And he goes, ‘Is that what they teach you in theater school?’ And I thought, Oh my god. This is my worst nightmare. And I scurry over to him, and I go, ‘Was that terrible?’ He goes, ‘No. It was awesome.’

What This Means For Jason Isaacs

Armageddon Paved The Way For Some Crucial Roles

Though Isaacs was a successful working actor in the UK in the ’90s, he wasn’t really well-known to American audiences. This explains why his role as Quincy in Armageddon was relatively small. It’s clear, however, that Armageddon was an important stepping stone for Isaacs, as it opened the door for a prominent villain role in The Patriot (2000) opposite Mel Gibson, a supporting role in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down (2001), and, crucially, his debut as Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002.

Isaacs is now, of course, most widely known for playing Lucius, a character he would play in almost every Harry Potter movie that followed Chamber of Secrets. He’s also recently been in the headlines for his role in The White Lotus season 3. Despite Bay being impressed with Isaacs’ acting talents, the two haven’t yet reunited for a movie after Armageddon, but Isaacs’ latest story certainly suggests another collaboration could happen eventually.

Source: Awards Chatter