What is the best Oscar Isaac movie role?

From Coen Brothers folk singer to Marvel shape-shifter to Paul Schrader slow-burn, Oscar Isaac has built one of the most diverse and impressive filmographies of his generation. Which role defines him?

1

Llewyn Davis (Inside Llewyn Davis)

Isaac's career-defining 2013 Coen Brothers performance as a down-on-his-luck folk singer navigating a bleak week in early 1960s Greenwich Village.

2

Nathan (Ex Machina)

Isaac's unnerving 2014 turn as an eccentric tech billionaire who invites a programmer to evaluate his humanoid AI creation at a remote mountain compound.

3

Abel Morales (A Most Violent Year)

Isaac's 2014 magnetic performance as an immigrant businessman trying to build a legitimate heating-oil empire in 1981 New York without resorting to violence.

4

Poe Dameron (Star Wars)

Isaac's charismatic hotshot Resistance pilot whose courage, humor, and unshakeable optimism across three sequel films made him a fan favorite.

5

Duke Leto Atreides (Dune)

Isaac's dignified 2021 Denis Villeneuve performance as the noble but ill-fated Duke whose acceptance of a poisoned planet sets his family's destiny in motion.

6

Marc Spector / Moon Knight

Isaac's astonishing 2022 Marvel Disney+ performance playing multiple personalities — Chicago accent, British accent, and Egyptian god — within a single character.

7

William Tell (The Card Counter)

Isaac's 2021 Paul Schrader slow-burn performance as a former military interrogator turned professional poker player haunted by his role in detainee torture.

8

Rodrigo Solís (Show Me a Hero)

Isaac's Emmy-winning 2015 HBO performance as the real-life Yonkers mayor destroyed by a court-ordered housing desegregation battle he couldn't win.