Oscar Isaac Plays Bagpipes on Fallon, Discusses Frankenstein Role
12 hours ago7 min read4 comments

The air in the studio crackled with an unexpected, reedy warmth as Oscar Isaac, seated across from Jimmy Fallon, brought a set of bagpipes to life, the instrument's drone a stark and wonderfully bizarre contrast to the usual late-night chatter. This wasn't a mere promotional stop; it was a performance in the truest sense, a prelude to a conversation that would delve deep into the alchemy of character creation.Isaac, whose career is a masterclass in chameleonic transformation, from the brooding folk singer of *Inside Llewyn Davis* to the galactic gravitas of *Star Wars*, revealed the eclectic sonic inspirations fueling his most anticipated role yet: the Monster in Guillermo del Toro's gothic passion project, *Frankenstein*. He spoke not of Boris Karloff's iconic, lumbering gait, but of the serpentine stagecraft of Prince and the cocksure strut of Mick Jagger.Imagine, if you will, the raw, untamed power of a being stitched together from disparate parts, moving with the androgynous, hypnotic grace of His Purple Majesty at the peak of his powers—a fluid, dangerous elegance that defies expectation. Then, layer in the Jagger-esque bravado, that primal, almost feral confidence that commands a stadium's attention, and you begin to grasp the symphony of influences Isaac is composing for this creature.This is a Monster conceived not as a mere brute, but as a tragic rock star born of lightning and scalpels, an entity whose very existence is a profound, screaming solo against the silence of the universe. Del Toro, a director whose own work operates like a concept album of the macabre, is the perfect producer for this dark opus, a filmmaker who understands that monsters are the most human of us all, their stories the ballads we fear to sing. Isaac’s bagpipe interlude, then, feels less like a party trick and more like a thematic overture—a breathy, ancient, and deeply soulful cry that hints at the lonely, beautiful, and utterly terrifying music his Monster is about to make on the silver screen.