How Much Money Does Oscar Isaac Make?

Oscar Isaac is a hard working career actor who made about $2 million for the role of Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. His pay for Ex Machina was about half that.

Before Star Wars, Isaac earned an average of $100,000 a year in salary from acting since 2006. The star has done solid work in a number of small films since 2002. Isaac has also landed a few small roles in major movies like Drive and The Bourne Legacy.

Isaac is having a breakout year. After 2015’s Star Wars and Ex Machina roles, he’s set to storm the public imagination again as Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse. For the star’s full earnings, see the table below.

Also see: Daisy Ridley Star Wars Earnings

Oscar Isaac Earnings

Oscar Isaac Earnings Star Wars and Other FilmsOscar Isaac earned $2.1 million for his work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Before J. J. Abrams cast him as X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron, the actor earned an average of $100,000 a year from acting.

Isaac almost had to drop out of Star Wars because of previous commitments for theatre roles. His uncle is a big Star Wars Fan. When he revealed this fact to director J. J. Abrams, Abrams gave him a role as an extra.

See Isaac’s year-by-year earnings in the table below. In the following video, Isaac talks about BB-8 and the reason there’s such an undercurrent of joy in the new film.

Oscar Isaac Earnings 2006$160,849
Oscar Isaac Earnings 2007$30,000
Oscar Isaac Earnings 2008$60,000
Oscar Isaac Earnings 2009$60,000
Oscar Isaac Earnings 2010$130,000
Oscar Isaac Earnings 2011$170,000
Oscar Isaac Earnings 2012$100,000
Oscar Isaac Earnings 2013$116,000
Oscar Isaac Earnings 2014$74,000
Oscar Isaac Earnings 2015$3,300,000

The Jimmy Fallon clip below has Isaac telling a story about how his uncle won a role in new movie. Isaac’s uncle is a tremendous Star Wars fan who still has some his childhood action figures.

Also see: How Much Money did Harrison Ford Make for Star Wars?

Oscar Isaac Net Worth

Oscar Isaac Net WorthOscar Isaac’s net worth is $1.7 million. The star earned $30,000 to $160,000 per year from 2006 through 2014, averaging $100,094 per year. That said, most or all of Isaac’s earnings in those years was likely eaten up by taxes and expenses. Isaac’s 2015 roles in Ex Machina and Star Wars likely mark the first time the actor has been able to build significant net worth.

Isaac was in a 28% federal tax bracket until 2015. As a resident of Florida, he pays no state taxes. His earnings from his work on Star Wars and other 2015 films has boosted him into the 39.6% tax range. That gives Isaac a $1.6 million tax bill for 2015. Agent fees and other expenses likely eat up another million, leaving the star with $1.7 million. That number will likely grow though, as box office gross for Star Wars continues to roll in.

The video below shows Oscar Isaac’s take on how he felt about being cast in Star Wars.

Also see: John Boyega Star Wars Earnings

Oscar Isaac Star Wars Earnings

Oscar Isaac has earned an estimated $2.1 million so far for appearing as pilot Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) & BB8 – Star Wars: The Force Awakens

A photo posted by Cerebro X-Mini (@cerebroxmini) on

Disney is getting a reputation for paying “lesser” actors a lot less than they could. With billions in box office revenue and a production budget of $200 million, it seems like actor payouts in the millions would be par for the course. Disney has historically paid some actors tens of millions, or in the case of Robert Downey Jr. $75 million. That said, smaller stars like Oscar Isaac are reported to get much smaller paydays closer to the S.A.G. minimum of $2,000 a day. An estimated 1/10th of a percent of box office gross does boost that some. Between base pay of $60,000 and .001% of gross, Isaac has earned a total of $2,100,000 for his Star Wars work to date. That’s a Starkiller sized step up for Isaac. The actor’s earnings for previous roles are shown below.

Oscar Isaac Acting CreditsYearRole / Role TypeOscar Isaac Earnings
Illtown1996Bit part$148
All About the Benjamins2002Small$2,000
Lenny the Wonder Dog2005"Fartman"$849
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (Isaac's first big TV appearance)2006Mid range$849
Pu-239 (Oscar Isaac's first top billed role)2006Top billing$30,000
The Nativity Story (Isaac's first big earnings hit)2006Joseph (The film made a profit of $50 million)$130,000
The Life Before Her Eyes2007Top billing$30,000
Che: Part One2008Top billing$30,000
Body of Lies2008Top billing$30,000
Agora2009Top billing$30,000
Balibo2009Top billing$30,000
Robin Hood (Oscar Isaac's first blockbuster appearance)2010Prince John (The film made a $100 million profit)$130,000
Sucker Punch2011Top billing$30,000
Drive2011Top billing$80,000
W.E.2011Top billing$30,000
10 Years2011Top billing$30,000
For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada2012Top billing$30,000
Revenge for Jolly!2012Top billing$30,000
The Bourne Legacy (Oscar Isaac's second blockbuster. Very small part leads to small earnings.)2012Small$10,000
Won't Back Down2012Top billing$30,000
Inside Llewyn Davis (Lead Coen brothers role is a big boost to Isaac's career.)2013Lead role$80,000
In Secret2013Top billing$30,000
Making a Scene2013Top billing (short film)$6,000
Trentemøller: Gravity2014Lead role (video short)$6,000
The Two Faces of January2014Top billing$30,000
Ticky Tacky2014Lead role (short film)$8,000
A Most Violent Year2014Lead role (film didn't earn back its production budget)$30,000
Ex Machina (Oscar Isaac's breakout role)2015Top billing (The film made a $20 million profit)$1,030,000
Mojave2015Lead role (Not yet released)N/A
Disney Infinity 3.0 (Video Game)2015Poe Dameron (voice)$50,000
Show Me a Hero (TV Mini-Series)2015Lead role, TV miniseries$120,000
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Isaac's career will never be the same.)2015Top billing (Poe Dameron)$2,100,000
The Promise2016In post productionN/A
X-Men: Apocalypse (Isaac's second major movie franchise role.)2016In post productionN/A
Star Wars: Episode VIII2017Isaac is currently in filming.N/A
Total Oscar Isaac Earnings$4,203,846

The Conan clip below has some hilarious quotes from Isaac’s interactions with Harrison Ford on the set.

Also see: How Much Money Has Every Star Wars Movie Made?

Isaac is a solid career actor. His workmanlike approach to acting and deft ability to pick roles has gradually built up a stout portfolio. Since 2002, Isaac has alternated between major roles in small art films and minor roles in big movies.

Oscar Isaac’s Future Earnings

One thing is certain about the money Oscar Isaac makes: it won’t be going back to $100K per year any time soon. Isaac has at least one guaranteed future role in Star Wars: Episode VII and a soon-to-be-released blockbuster appearance as the chief baddie in X-Men: Apocalypse. Isaac’s career is one Rathtar that won’t be going back in the detention cell any time soon. In the clip below, Isaac discusses his next big role. 

Also see: How Much Money Has Every Marvel Movie Made?

Where Do We Get Our Info?

Oscar Isaac doesn’t have to report his earnings or net worth. We got our numbers through a detailed analysis of each film, TV and video game role. We used factors like earnings by other comparable actors in similar roles, the Screen Actors Guild rate sheet, production budget, film earnings and size of role.

 

Oscar Isaac net worth dataFor example, Isaac played the role of “Fartman” in the 2005 comedy film Lenny the Wonder Dog. It’s a small role, and Isaac most probably earned no more than the S.A.G. $849 day rate for the part. Isaac played a major role in the small film Agora. The S.A.G. rate sheet has him earning $2,000 per day for that work. Assuming Isaac was involved in 15 days of shooting, that gives him about $30,000. Since the film didn’t earn back its production budget, we didn’t add in any percentage of box office earnings. By contrast, Isaac’s role of Joseph in the 2006 movie The Nativity Story likely paid $30,000 plus a small percentage of profits. That film made a profit of $50 million. Estimating Isaac’s cut at a tenth of a percent gives us our $130,000 figure for the role.

Finally, Isaac most likely earned $2.1 million for the role of Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We built that estimate by looking at other media estimates and through our own calculations. We calculated Oscar Isaac was involved in 30 days of shooting at $2,000 each. Next, we added 1/10th of a percent of the film’s earnings for another $2.04 million. The percentage is based on reports of what Isaac and the other actors earned for the film.

In the video below: Isaac pays hilarious homage to Bill Murray’s classic Star Wars lounge lizard act.

Also see: Marvel Movies Are Worth More Than Belize

As a parting shot, check out Oscar Isaac in his next big role.

The trailer below shows Isaac as the villain in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Sources:

Screen Actor’s Guild Rate Sheet