A star of the Harry Potter film series—he played the role of Lucius Malfoy—Isaacs is also known for his movies The Patriot, Peter Pan, Fury,Green Zone, and Black Hawk Down. In Good Sam, Isaacs portrays Dr. Rob “Griff” Griffith, who is shot in the pilot, lapses into a coma, and wakes up to find his life upended as his daughter Samantha “Sam” Griffith (Sophia Bush) assumes his role of chief of the Lakeshore Sentinel Hospital’s esteemed cardiology department. In a new episode premiering Wednesday, April 20—which also marks Isaacs’ Good Sam directorial debut—the team prepares for a high-stakes lung transplant, while Dr. Griff prepares to make his official return to surgery. “These doctors are people you’re happy to be around. Part of what we provide, as well as hopefully some joy and some lighthearted laughter and emotional catharsis, is big, melodramatic turns of the story,” Isaacs exclusively tells Parade. “Our job is to try and make these stories seem real.” Read on for more on Isaacs’s appreciation for the women in his life, including his wife, two daughters, and the Good Sam cast and crew.
What’s it like working with Sophia Bush on Good Sam?
Sophia Bush is a remarkable woman. In fact, the whole show is written by, run by, and about remarkable women. Sophia takes the responsibility of being the number one on the call sheet very seriously, and that’s to make sure that the crew and the cast are not just happy but treated well and are treating each other well. It shines through on the screen, and it’s very definitely a presence off the screen.
What makes her leadership stand out?
Sophia has been acting since she was a teenager. She’s seen all kinds of different behavior on set, some of it very unpleasant and inappropriate. She was determined when she got this job, to make sure that the work environment was one that everyone was in a hurry to get to and not in a hurry to leave. I’m an old hand, often described as a veteran, but it’s been refreshing just to be around people like her and Katie [Wech], who’s the showrunner; they believe that the best work comes out of that extremely positive atmosphere. I have not been in an entirely women-run workplace before and it makes a hell of a difference.
Who is Dr. Rob Griff? How do you see him? And if he really was as grumpy as we see in the beginning, we wouldn’t find him lovable at all, would we?
Well, I’m not sure that I agree with that. When the camera shows you who someone is in private, shows you all the things that they’re feeling that make them behave arrogantly or fearfully or in a jealous fashion, if you get to know them enough as a human being then the camera can show you their secrets and we can identify with them.
He has a lot of internal conflict going on.
Yes. I think if you feel that someone is human it’s not that you forgive them, but you understand them and you connect with them on a human level. There’s a certain level of fear and insecurity in him that comes from feeling like his days are over. That confusing paradox of wanting your children to do well and be better than you, educate them when they start to do that thing, and surpass you how unstable that can make you feel.
Do you see similarities in your own fathering of your two daughters? Or would you do things totally opposite?
No, no, I am utterly enthralled with my wife, my daughters, my mother-in-law, and my dog. I’m as far from alpha as you can get. I do whatever they tell me whenever they tell me, and sometimes before they tell me. I want my children to surpass me. It started when they were teenagers. I love and revel in those moments when they were sure that their father was a moron and knew nothing about the world. As they turn into young women those thoughts are turning into certain knowledge.
Are the medical aspects the most challenging part of making Good Sam?
Not at all. The most challenging is to try and make something truthful. We have very moving stories, and always very positive stories. This is a show that’s not trying to be a fly-on-the-wall gritty documentary. The world is scary enough out there and there are enough troubling things to see in the news every day. Lakeshore is a hospital you’re happy to be in. My character has had huge swings in character, mood, and relationships, and I have to take these lovely words that Katie writes and turn them into something that makes people believe them. The medical stuff is easy.
When you read the first episode, the pilot, you knew that he got shot and how severe it was. What were your next thoughts?
Well, about 15 minutes into the pilot he wakes up. And the story is of a man who was in a coma and lost his position. So it’s what do you do when the world that you knew, that you had, that you controlled, that you ran is taken away from you? I didn’t know how we’d get to play it out with all of the power shifts. Much like being a parent, our relationship changes constantly.
If Sam and her dad patch things up at any point, is the drama over?
Absolutely not. First of all, there’s a reason why television series are often set in police stations, hospitals, lawyers’ offices, and fire stations. There’s always massive drama, someone’s on the edge of dying or losing their liberty or whatever, and we do patch things up, we have patched things up a number of times. But, in the end, there is a generational divide. My daughter, who was a caretaker for a while, has become convinced that she does it better, and many other people do think she does it better. There are differences in attitude to individual patients, being a boss, what we’re there for, and how to teach people. Those things as much as our love for each other, or regard for each other, has to go through different phases. We’re always essentially going to be in conflict over many things because we’re very different people.
What should viewers look forward to during the rest of the season?
It’s an escape. I don’t know about you, but I read as much of the news as I can bear, and some days that’s virtually none, and some days it’s 24 hours. I love that there are moving, emotional, human things happening inside the doors of Lakeshore. Why do we tell stories? Sometimes we tell stories because we want a roadmap for our life, and sometimes we tell stories so we can get away from our lives. Our stories are an entertaining, emotional, amusing sanctuary from the world.
Do you follow the Fantastic Beasts movies because of your Harry Potter roots?
Well, they’re all in the family, aren’t they? Obviously, those of us who were in the other ones prefer those but are thrilled that it’s still going on. I do remember all of us thinking that how lucky we felt that the doors were closed to this very exclusive club of people who had been in Hogwarts stories. It turns out there’s another tranche of members and they’re all having a very good time. Whatever their stories do for the world, the original Harry Potter books and films have affected so many people so deeply that it’s a source of never-ending pleasure and privilege to have been in them. I meet people who are desperate to tell me not just that they’re pleased to meet me but about something major that the books did for them. If the new films are continuing to do this that is great.
Tell me about the last day of filming Season 1 of Good Sam.
Everybody sent each other very emotional texts today and I know that there will be a lot of tears and hugging. I’m older than everybody else, that’s why I play the dad. I’ve done much more goodbyes than all of them. They might not realize what I realize, which is that it’s very rare for everybody to like each other. And to have a lovely time. On this show, we have all seen each other every weekend. We gathered last night to watch episode eight at this guy’s place, somebody takes turns having everybody over for game nights and stuff. I’m normally very unsentimental and I just slip away when it’s over. I’ve said goodbye hundreds of times, but like the rest of them, I am sending ludicrously weepy Hallmark texts to everyone
Do you want the show to continue for a Good Sam Season 2?
From experience, I have learned to let go a long time ago. I have loved the experience of making it; I love all of the people. And I let go. I have no part in any work I ever do to do with the results. It hasn’t been for decades. I knew to enjoy the experience. I love filming this with these people and if there’s a season 2 that will be great. Good Sam airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. Next, Simone Ashley Tells Us About Her Onscreen ‘Fireworks Romance’ With Jonathan Bailey
