Liverpool actor Jason Isaacs tells Dawn Collinson about his latest film set in Nazi Germany and his awards night gamble

FOR a man in considerable demand by Hollywood’s big hitters and feted by the critics, Jason Isaacs is disarmingly approachable.

The Childwall-born actor is warming up for a round of TV interviews supporting his latest film, Good, a powerful drama set in Nazi Germany.

This, he explains, requires a switch from his regular wardrobe – “which is tragically like a teenager” – to his professional one, “when I dress like an undertaker,” he jokes.

“So I’m taking some shirts to be dry-cleaned because I need to give a fashion show to my wife and two small children so they can tell me what to wear. And then I’m off for a haircut; seven quid from a something-for-the-weekend man.”

Clearly, Isaacs is taking the promotion of Good seriously, but then he has every reason to. Not only is he one of its stars, alongside Lord of the Rings actor Viggo Mortensen, he was a producer, too.

Beyond the rigours of a regular role, this one became more a feat of endurance, taking seven years to make and costing its chief producer Miriam Segal her company, her home and even her car.

But so determined was she, and Isaacs, to get the film made that they refused to give up on it.

“This is a film which is morally complex and challenging, and it’s a very long process trying to raise money for something like that,” he explains. “Three years ago, we were actually ready to go and I did the stupidest thing in the world and wrote a cheque to cover people’s wages who were in pre-production.

“Then it all fell apart. Miriam lost her very successful thriving production company out of an obsession to make the film, and she ended up dossing in friends’ apartments and playing poker in the middle of the night in illegal poker clubs to try and get cash to live.

“But she promised me she was going to get my money back and get the film made, and two years later she had all the money, she’d paid all the debts, including mine, and we had a film again.”

Based on an acclaimed play by CP Taylor, Good tells the story of a man who feels powerless and compromised in the face of rising Fascism in 1930s Germany. Isaacs is his best friend Maurice, a Jewish psychiatrist, whose pride and status are mercilessly eroded by the Nazi regime.

“When you initially see Maurice he is, in every way, the dominant partner in their friendship,” explains Isaacs. “He is a womaniser who is arrogant and utterly secure about who he is, and Viggo’s character comes to him for a bit of glamour.