Oscar Isaac has shared the moving story behind his son’s name

In a moving interview, Star Wars star Oscar Isaac has shared that he named his son, Eugene, after his late mother, who passed away in February of this year.

The actor, who is one of the internet’s most favorite boyfriends, announced that he and his partner, Elvira Lind, had welcomed their first child together in April. The couple have been very private about their family and relationship, although Isaac share that the baby was a boy.

Now, in a new New York Times profile, Oscar Isaac has revealed that he’s named his son after his late mother.

In the interview, Isaac, who is is currently starring on stage this summer as Hamlet in, well, Hamlet, revealed that last year, while his mother was ill, he would read the Shakespearian play aloud to her.

The actor said that he had taken on the role for his mother, noting, “It’s to honor her life, but also her death, which was so awful.”

Isaac’s mother’s name was Eugenia, and the actor shared how he believed that his son had his mother’s lips and her hands. It’s because of this, he says, that he decided to name his baby Eugene.

Isaac explained that after his mother’s death and the birth of his son, playing Hamlet was the only thing that was the only thing helping him keep his emotions in check.

“This is how I’m able to function,” he said. “The only way that I’m really able to process stuff is through reflecting it.”

Indeed, the actor admitted that during Hamlet’s iconic “To be or not to be” soliloquy, a moment in which the titular character contemplates his own existence, he thinks of his son.

“You have a child, and you must — you must for their sake — you must say yes to life,” he said.

If you’re in the New York area, you can catch Oscar Isaac in Hamlet at the Public Theater until September 3rd. For tickets and info visit here.