From bad to worse

Jason Isaacs, the British actor who portrayed the nefarious Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, will be back on cinema screens this Christmas as another villain.

This time he will play Captain Hook in the new action version of Peter Pan.

Isaacs’ Hook is a dandy dresser, with handstiched clothes and a silver scythe where his right hand should be. He charms Wendy Darling, played by British newcomer 13-year-old Rachel Hurd-Wood.

“Wendy is very attracted to Captain Hook because he’s very cool and sexy,” Isaacs told USA Today. “I said, ’Let’s have open shirts, a sort of Julio Iglesias-style.’ I’m pretty sure that any one of the jackets I wear cost more than what I got paid for this film.”

Isaacs, who has a dual role in the movie, playing Wendy’s father as well as Hook, said it was only when he was preparing for the role that he realised he had never read J M Barrie's famous book.

“Like most people I thought I had,” he said. “The book is magnificent, quite violent and shocking in many ways and works equally well for children and adults.”

The film, which is directed by Australian P J Hogan, also stars the French actress Ludivine Sagnier as Tinkerbell.