‘Star Trek: Discovery’: Jason Isaacs Wins Empire Award

Jason Isaacs brought home Star Trek: Discovery‘s first ever award thanks to his performance as Captain Gabriel Lorca in the show’s first season.

Isaacs took home the Empire Award for Best Actor in a TV Series. He was up against Kyle MacLachlan for Twin Peaks, Alexander Skarsgard for Big Little Lies, Matt Smith for The Crown, and Dan Stevens for Legion.

Isaac’s Lorca was a fascinating character. He at first presented himself as a much more military-minded Starfleet captain than any previously featured on a Star Trek television series. As the series progressed, it became clear that Lorca had ulterior motives and it was eventually revealed that he was, in fact, a native of the mirror universe.

Lorca had been stranded in the prime timeline while trying to escape a failed coup against the Emperor of the Terran Empire. From there, Lorca began manipulating Starfleet and the crew of the USS Discovery to provide him with a means of returning to his own universe. He was successful and the Discovery crew became entangled with yet another attempt by Lorca to overthrow the Terran Emperor. This one was only marginally more successful. The Emperor did lose her power, but Lorca was killed during the battle.

Following Lorca’s demise, Isaacs spoke about what Lorca’s end meant to him.

“How did I feel about dying in the end? Well I wanted to win, obviously, and kill them all and end up emperor, but I think that would have made a different series,” he said. “The last few episodes were the easiest for me because I was playing who I’d been all along. I knew for the entire run of the season that I was Mirror Lorca. The challenging thing was to work out how to fool the crew and also to honor the secret that he was carrying.

“It was no fun losing, but if I have to lose to anyone, I think Michelle [Yeoh] and Sonequa [Martin-Green] are the two that should wipe me out,” he continued. “As Lorca, I felt very confident standing up to Emperor Georgiou and I think I could probably take, but as Jason, I was completely in awe of Michell’s skills, as we all were. And she moves like water and she’s three moves ahead of where I was, so I had to stay on my toes. I wanted to be careful not to hurt her which is laughable once you get into the fight because I couldn’t even see her.”

Isaac’s new film, The Death of Stalin, also won an Empire Award. Star Trek: Discovery is nominated for five Saturn Awards, including another individual nomination for Isaacs.

Star Trek: Discovery Season Two begins filming in April.