Actors, even quite successful working ones with deep filmographies littered with big-budget fare, can labor in relative obscurity for years, before just the right role gives them the chance to really “pop.” Such is the case with Oscar Isaac’s superb, anchoring performance as the title character in Joel and Ethan Coen‘s sardonically funny Inside Llewyn Davis, about a week in the life of a struggling folk singer in 1960s New York City, and the slow fade of his despair into outright resignation. I recently had a chance to talk to Isaac at the film’s Los Angeles press day, about his breakout role, preparing for the movie’s live musical sequences and working with the Coens, whose movies, he says, “may not always be what life looks like, but are definitely what life feels like.” The conversation is excerpted over at ShockYa, so click here for the read.