Terrified of ticking clocks and of growing old, Captain Hook may be one of the most misunderstood villains in classic literature. Disney’s 1953 animated film, Peter Pan, remains a classic. Since then, there have been countless iterations of the story and of Captain Hook, including getting his own movie in the 1991 comedy adventure, Hook, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams. There was also the recent 2023 film, Peter Pan & Wendy, with Jude Law stepping into the shoes of the infamous pirate. But no performance has ever been so effective or sympathetic as Jason Isaacs‘s portrayal of Captain Hook in 2003’s live-action, Peter Pan.

Isaacs is currently starring in Season 3 of the Max hit, The White Lotus, as a rich, southern father in the midst of losing his fortune due to shady dealings. Written by Mike White, Isaccs taps into a comedic vein that has seldom been seen in his filmography and adds most of the humor to this season alongside his on-screen wife, played by Parker Posey. Known mostly for his villainous turn as Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter, Peter Pan is an overlooked performance of his. Playing Hook opposite Jeremy Sumpter, it’s a must-watch performance of a literary classic figure that lends a surprising humanity to an infamous bad guy.

2003’s Peter Pan Is a Dark and Imaginative Take On the Classic Novel

Child actors Rachel Hurd-Wood, Harry Newell, and Freddie Popplewell star as Wendy, John, and Michael Darling, respectively, in their film debuts. They give the film an innocent, whimsical feel as children in love with fairy tales themselves, with a fascination with Captain Hook. When Sumpter enters as Peter Pan, he makes the film come to life with his upbeat, feisty performance. Isaacs also plays Mr. Darling in a dual performance, before transforming into the flamboyant pirate. Olivia Williams co-stars as Mrs. Darling, and a rambunctious Lynn Redgrave plays their Aunt Millicent. Once the children run away to Neverland, the film is non-stop thrills and action as Captain Hook and Peter face off several times in bloody battles. But this time, the interesting spin is that Wendy also develops a friendship with the grungy pirates and Hook and becomes intrigued by their way of life.

Jason Isaacs Plays Captain Hook as a Tragic and Depressed Loner

A fairy tale is only as good as its villain, and a massive part of Peter Pan‘s success is thanks to Isaacs. Isaacs plays Hook as a vicious man-child who has never quite grown up himself. As Peter Pan has evolved and transformed to fit genres of comedy, coming-of-age, and fantasy throughout the years, Isaac’s sensitive take on a villain as famous as Hook has stood the test of time. In the Disney version from 1953 and in Hoffman’s take in the later film, Hook, both are over-the-top, caricature performances that veer into slapstick and comedy, which is all good fun, but is also what makes Isaacs’s decision to play into the tragedy, while keeping the comedy up, all the more striking.

Isaacs plays Hook mostly straight but also gets to have a good chunk of physical comedy to do. The iconic sidekick of Mr. Smee also plays into the pirates’s chaotic, fumbling energy that often leads them to stumble after Pan, and he’s played by the famous British actor, Richard Briers. Isaacs and Briers have one particularly funny interaction when Mr. Smee lets the Darling boys go after Peter impersonates Hook, and Isaacs gets to have a full-blown, ironically childlike meltdown when he screams, “You let them go!” and Mr. Smee stutters like a floundering fish. It balances out the dark undertones of the children’s film and keeps some of the screwball elements of former iterations of Hook intact.

Captain Hook Drives Home the Film’s Themes of Youth and Time

Captain Hook is a testament to one of Peter Pan‘s core themes, which is the passage of time and how it haunts adults looking back on their youth. Hook is ultimately haunted by time, and the ticking he hears from the crocodile who hunts him is a metaphor that Isaacs plays sincerely. Isaacs plays him with a melancholy that shows the depth of Captain Hook’s true unhappiness. In a monologue where he discusses being “alone and unloved,” instead of playing into the theatrics, Isaacs plays it subtly and coldly, with tears in his eyes. It masks the loneliness Hook feels as a surprisingly sympathetic man, despite the many things he does to try and bring Pan down.

Another fun element of the film, and one that has been traditional since the first Peter Pan film and stage productions, is that the actor for Captain Hook always plays Mr. Darling, too. Isaacs is strict and cruel as Mr. Darling, and the fact that he then, too, plays Captain Hook is no coincidence, as both men are cut from the same cloth. It shows Isaacs’s range, and he seamlessly transitioned from straight-edged to flamboyant. Yes, Hook is cruel, but Isaacs communicates that through his scowls and genuine fright when he hears the clocks ticking and the crocodile coming, that he’s just as scared as the rest of us.