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Jason Isaacs hit a major milestone in his career this year — but his children are unfazed.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at the inaugural Televerse Festival in Los Angeles on Aug. 16, the English actor, 62, revealed that his kids were “not even mildly” impressed by the fact that he earned his first-ever Emmy nomination for his performance in season 3 of The White Lotus.
“I’m [currently] shooting in Dublin, and I went to Montreal for a couple of days to put my daughter’s shelves up and put pictures up and blinds and take her shopping and get furniture for [her] apartment. That’s all she cares about — and that’s all she should care about with your parents,” he says.
“They’re not remotely impressed by what I do for a living,” Isaacs adds.
The Patriot star is dad to daughters Lily, 23, and Ruby, 20, whom he shares with wife Emma Hewitt.
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As for the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets star, he tries “not to think about” the nomination. (He’s up for a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series award.)
“I don’t mean that it’s not incredibly flattering and lovely,” he says. “I just know that I’ve been doing this job for a very, very long time, and very rarely do you get this kind of attention.”
Isaacs gave credit to the character White Lotus creator Mike White dreamed up: southern patriarch Timothy Ratliff, who comes under investigation for shady financial dealings, leading him to almost poison his family to hide his financial ruin.
“I just had a fantastic part,” Isaacs tells PEOPLE. “Mike White creates these three-dimensional, surprising human beings that behave in the kind of jagged and particular ways they do, and asks of all the actors to go to places they don’t normally go. I felt like I won an award just getting the part and getting to do it and getting to stretch all those muscles and have all those challenges.”
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The actor says he doesn’t like to think about “the prizes bit” of his work. “It’s lovely and flattering, but it’s not what I do,” he explains.
Thinking ahead to this year’s Emmys ceremony — which will take place on Sept. 14 — Isaacs shared his fear that he’ll “feel like an imposter” on the big night, especially being surrounded by “such a lot of extraordinary talent.”
“I kind of look forward to it and I’m kind of scared of it,” he says. “I get completely starstruck by everybody whose work I admire, and not just the other people in my category, in every category and all the people who aren’t nominated.”
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As for the heightened level of fame that his White Lotus role has brought him, Isaacs is still getting used to it. “It’s always odd to me that anyone’s either seen me in one thing or seen me in multiple things,” he says.
“I feel invisible,” he tells PEOPLE. “I feel like I’m not seen. I don’t want to be seen. I want to create characters, and then I get on the subway every day, I go to the supermarket every day. I have one of those faces that people forget instantly, and hopefully they watch when I’m being more interesting people on the screen.”
