#Rachel Brosnahan on Broadway Co-Star Oscar Isaac: “He’s Relentlessly and Unapologetically Curious”

“Over the moon” is how Rachel Brosnahan felt in April. That’s when she learned that Lorraine Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window — in which she starred opposite Oscar Isaac at BAM — was moving to the James Earl Jones Theatre, where it quickly scooped up a Tony nom for best play revival.

The show, mounted at Brooklyn Academy of Music, had a quick sprint to the James Earl Jones Theatre after wrapping up its BAM run thanks to an opening slot when the stage adaptation of Room fell through. Set in 1960s Greenwich Village, the play centers on married couple Sidney and Iris Brustein as they “fight to keep their marriage, with all its crackling wit, passion and casual cruelty, from being the final sacrifice to Sidney’s ideals.”

Even though Brosnahan has recently seen through the launch and series ending final bow of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, she was more than ready for the Great White Way. “One one of the reasons I loved Iris and was so excited by the opportunity to get to play her is because she feels so far away from me,” explained the Emmy winner to THR ahead of a PaleyFest event. “She’s someone who wears her heart outside of her body and is so moved by everything and everyone around her. She uses her body differently than I used mine, so it was an incredible process of finding her and finding her with [director Anne Kauffman], Oscar and all of the cast and crew.”

Speaking of Isaac, Brosnahan said she’s inspired by her co-star’s relentless curiosity. “He’s so well-studied, so passionate, so driven and so disciplined in a number of ways,” she praised. “He’s relentlessly and unapologetically curious and I feel like it makes him keep pushing himself to find, especially in theater where you’re doing the same thing every night, pushes him to find new shades to this character, new ways into certain scenes. And it’s been dreamy to get to do that dance with him every night.”

The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window is now on stage through July 2.

This story first appeared in the May 31 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.