Oscar Isaac is returning to television as the "greatest conman alive" in Apple TV's new drama based on a true story. Since playing Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, the actor has continued starring in big-budget tentpoles, including Denis Villeneuve's Dune as Duke Leto Atreides and voicing Miguel O'Hara in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Isaac has also starred in several TV miniseries – Marvel's Moon Knight and HBO's Scenes from a Marriage, for which he earned an Emmy nomination.

Now, the Emmy-nominated actor is returning to television. According to Variety, Oscar Isaac is set to star in the Apple TV+ series Stowaway as Juan Carlos Guzmán, who is internationally recognized as the "greatest conman alive." Steven Levenson (Dear Evan Hansen) is attached to develop the series, while Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (American Horror Story) will direct the pilot episode. Apple TV+ secured the rights to the project after a competitive bidding war.

Isaac will also executive produce Stowaway via Mad Gene Media, marking his production company's second big sale to Apple TV+ after the drama series Bananas, starring Isaac and Ana de Armas and directed by David O. Russell.

What Oscar Isaac Starring In Stowaway Means For The Series

Who Is Juan Carlos Guzmán?

Oscar Isaac frequently plays Latino characters that challenge Hollywood stereotypes, and he has found another interesting figure in Juan Carlos Guzmán. In 1993, Guzmán was found as a stowaway in the well of a cargo jet that landed in Miami, nearly frozen to the wheels. He claimed to be a 13-year-old orphan from Colombia, but he was actually 17, and left his mother behind in Bogotá to live with his aunt in Miami, desperate for a better life in America. As the show's logline reads, "It was far from the last lie he would tell — or the most ridiculous."

In the following two decades, Guzmán rose to international fame, earning a reputation as the "greatest conman alive." The logline continues, "Traveling the globe, donning one alias after another, he stole millions from the wealthy clientele staying at the world’s most exclusive hotels. Yet no matter how seamlessly he could assume the identity of his victims, Juan always found himself on the run — not just from Scotland Yard, the Las Vegas Police Department or Interpol, but from a past he seemed unable to fully escape."

Our Take On Oscar Isaac Starring In Stowaway

Juan Carlos Guzmán Is Another Complex Character

Oscar Isaac's portrayal of Juan Carlos Guzmán in Stowaway should add another role to his roster of complex Latino characters that challenge Hollywood stereotypes. A character immigrating to America in search of a better life, but eventually becoming an infamous criminal, is a universal story that has been thoroughly explored before by movies like The Godfather Part II and Scarface. Given his history of complex characters, Isaac will undoubtedly bring depth to Guzmán and Stowaway's exploration of ambition, morality, and the American dream.

Source: Variety