One of the biggest celebrity gossip fixations of 2025 so far has been about The White Lotus and what was happening or not happening between Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood. That situation has now been resolved but let’s not forget that Jason Isaacs had a role in the speculation because during one – or more – of his interviews, he was talking about the dynamics between the actors on set in Thailand, where they were bunked down for months during production and how, inevitably, relationships became strained, and tensions escalated along with the temperature. 

 

Jason Isaacs doesn’t follow the prescribed media playbook. And he doesn’t have to. He’s not a 20-30something year old actor pursuing movie star dreams. He works enough and steadily enough but not high profile enough that he doesn’t have to worry, at least not now in his 60s, about whatever consequences. He’s also, as part of The White Lotus season three cast, contending for an Emmy, as part of the ensemble and also individually as most cast members have been submitted for consideration. 

 

Part of his campaign is landing the cover of New York Magazine, an accomplishment considering he’s not exactly a household name in North America, as pointed out in the piece, but also now more recognisable than he’s ever been with a platinum blonde wig because of his role in the year’s most dramatic series (on screen and off). 

 

It says right there on the cover, “Jason Isaacs might say too much” and he’s not about to stop saying too much after all the rumouring and speculation that happened a couple of months ago when the show was airing and he was blind gossiping about beefs on set. Why would he? Jason running his mouth is part of the reason he was so viral, and why the obsession with cast chemistry was so viral. So he’s not about to do an interview where he holds back and edits out all the good parts and starts censoring himself. 

The result is a scream of an interview in which he answers some pretty blunt questions about his career, how much money he makes (I appreciate the reporter, Andrew Goldman, asking Jason point blank if he’s bothered that after acting for 30 years, he earned as much – or little – as Patrick Schwarzenegger), and all the assholes he’s worked with, and whether or not he’s jealous of others who have become more successful than he is. His anecdote about Jeff Goldblum made me howl. I howled again when he shared a memory of working with Shia LaBeouf when they were both in Fury a decade ago. 

 

The thing about the way Jason gossips, though, is that it seems like he’s gossiping chaotically, but while  he gives us just enough of the good sh-t and performs the telling like a pro, he’s also not so out of control and wild that he doesn’t have any awareness of what to hold back. He knows exactly what he needs to hold back, for self-preservation first and foremost, but also because he obviously understands that blowing your load has a short payoff. One must titillate and tantalise in equal measure. He leaves enough on the table to keep us guessing but we’re not walking away hungry, we have been fed. Jason Isaacs is a great gossip. Jason Isaacs is one of us.

Photo credits: Vulture/ New York Magazine

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