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Isaac Powell, Broadway star of the recent revivals of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND and WEST SIDE STORY, plays a key role in the new Charli XCX film THE MOMENT, which recently premiered at Sundance and is now playing in movie theaters across the country. He sat down to talk with BroadwayWorld about the film, his career, and what’s next.
How was Sundance? Was this your first time there?
Sundance was full on. It was a really good time. I was there very briefly, just to watch the film and attend the after party, and then I left the next morning. So I was in and out. It was just nonstop, but a lot of fun. That was my first time actually attending the festival. I’ve been part of films that had screened there before, but I’d never actually been able to attend. So this was a real treat. I get to say that I attended Park City Sundance.
What can you tell me about the film and your character?
I call it a meta comedy or a mockumentary, and it follows a pop star, Charli XCX, in the lead up to her first arena tour as her record label tries to make the moment last forever. So that’s where you meet her, and that’s where most of the film takes place, in that kind of heated moment of the end of something and the beginning of something for this artist. I play Lloyd. Lloyd is first and foremost Charli’s good friend, but also her employee. He handles her socials, and he’s part of this entourage of people who make it all happen.
What do you think about this film would draw Broadway fans?
Ultimately, it’s a film about an artist and a creator, and it has really great music and really good storytelling. I think anybody who loves Broadway and appreciates a good story and appreciates good art would appreciate this film. It’s funny, it’s heartfelt, it’s really sexy, and, yeah, I think Broadway audiences will really like this film, actually.
As an artist yourself, you dabble in a lot of different things. How do you identify with the themes of the film?
I guess, being somebody who operates inside of the entertainment industry, I access it through that point of view. This film does a really good job of showing you how absurd it is under the hood, how the sausage gets made, and how kind of silly it ultimately all can be, yet how serious it feels. I so know that experience, and it really resonated. It kind of really illustrates to you how absurd things can be at the center of a cultural moment. For an artist, I’ve never quite been at the center of a cultural moment the way that Charli has, but in my own small ways, a lot of things that happened in this film really resonated with me.
You were really early in your career when you were all of the sudden starring on Broadway in ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. How was that experience going so big so quickly?
Yeah, that was a real thrill. That was a real thrill. I got ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, which was my first Broadway show, a couple of weeks after I graduated from college, and it all happened so fast. I was out of town in the ensemble of a summer stock theatre doing NEWSIES when I found out that I got it, and suddenly I was just, like, plucked from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and thrown into the Broadway machine full force. And it was so exciting. It was so fun. Everything was so new to find myself in this community, which is such a special community. It was so exciting, and for it to all have happened the way that it did and the quick time that it did just made it really thrilling. That was a special one to be a part of. I regret that I never got to actually see the show, because I think it is so up my alley. It’s something that I would have absolutely loved. But I think I’m the only person on that cast who never got swung out to see the show.
What was it like working with Michael Arden?
Oh, God. Michael’s the best. He’s incredible. I mean, the way that he embraced me, because he knew what that moment was for me. He knew that he was giving me an incredible opportunity and was also so careful about the way that he ushered me into that opportunity, and was really wise and kind and helpful to me throughout that entire experience. And he’s a visionary, and being in the room with him while he’s working is just amazing—his mind and the minds of his collaborators, because Michael is a really great director, but he also picks really great people to hire, not only in the cast, but on the production team as well. So, yeah, working with him is a dream. It was like a dream first job.
Tell me about WEST SIDE STORY. I know that was tough with COVID stopping that short.
What happened? Did something happen? That was so heartbreaking. It wasn’t at the time because the whole world was on fire, so I was really not worried about Broadway. It really wasn’t until, I don’t know, maybe a couple of years ago, that it really sunk in for me how kind of disappointing that was, that we never got to continue that, and that I never got to go back into that role. I learned so, so much about myself as a performer by being part of that production. And I’m, of course, really sad that it was cut short due to the pandemic. But what I got from it, I still carry with me, and so I can’t be too sad, because I’m also very grateful that I had that experience.
Any upcoming stage projects that you have going on?
Yes, but that’s all I can say.
You’ve done stage work, you’ve done film, you’ve done modeling. What was the transition like? You went from college into ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, you did some Broadway, you transitioned to film. What was that like?
A learning experience for me. When I was coming out the gate, I was just laser focused on Broadway. That was all I ever wanted for myself, if I’m honest. It was really something that I thought I was going to be chasing after for a lot of my life, and then when it happened so quickly, I had to start dreaming bigger. And so that’s when I started looking towards working more in television and on film. Especially when the pandemic hit and there was no theatre for a while, I said, well, this is the opportunity to start pursuing those things, I guess. And yeah, it came with a big learning curve. I’m still learning so much. I love being on set. I love the workflow of being on set. It’s so different, because in theatre, you work on something for six weeks, and then you preview it for a month, maybe, and then it’s done. It’s so the opposite in terms of process for film and TV jobs, so it’s like putting on a totally different hat. But I love the thrill of being able to go back and forth between these things. I don’t think I’d be satisfied just doing one. I think I need to have all these different mediums to play in.
How do you balance what you want to work on? With all these different things you’re doing, are you focusing on anything in particular, or just kind of seeing what happens?
Yeah, I think for a while I was just kind of seeing what happens. But these last two years, I’d say I’ve been a lot more, I don’t want to say picky, but very specific about the things that I pursue, because now I know the cost. I know the cost in my life, and especially building a personal life when you’re an actor can be really, really difficult. And for a lot of my early career, I wasn’t really worried about any of that. But now I’m, you know, I’m 31 years old, and I’m really thinking about the life that I’m trying to build alongside my career. So I am thinking differently about the material I take on, the jobs that I take on, where they shoot. You know, it’s a big commitment to decide to do eight shows a week in New York City when so much of my life has expanded and moved everywhere. And I love my freedom. I love traveling. I love being able to go see my family. So yeah, I mean, the way that I calculate an opportunity, the value of an opportunity, is a little different. But for now, focus is pretty squarely on this thing that I that I’m gearing up to do on stage, that I’m extremely excited about, and that’s like 110% of my focus right now, and my energy is going towards getting back in shape, mentally especially, to be able to do something like that.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to readers of BroadwayWorld?
I guess I just want to say to anybody who has followed my career from the work that I did on stage and still continues to follow me now, I really appreciate them for, I don’t know, staying along for the ride and staying interested in what it is that I’m doing. Because I still get texts sometimes or DMs from people who say, I saw you in ONCE ON THIS ISLAND all those years ago, and now you’re doing these things. And you know, it really means a lot to me that people are still continuing to follow along and are interested and invested in the choices that I’m making, and continuing to watch and support. So yeah, I guess I would just want to say thank you to those people who are still really supportive.
Photo Credit: Courtesy A24.
