Oscar Isaac reminisces late mom Eugenia’s last words before death

Oscar Isaac is looking back on one of the most emotional chapters of his life and the powerful final words his mother, Eugenia, shared before she died.

In his wife Elvira Lind’s new documentary King Hamlet, the actor opens up about the grief he carried while preparing for his 2017 stage run as Hamlet and while he and Lind were awaiting the birth of their first child.

Isaac lost his mother in 2017, just as he was deep into rehearsals for the Shakespeare production at the Public Theater in New York.

The documentary follows him through that difficult period, weaving together rehearsals, family moments, and the reality of his mother’s illness.

As shown in the film, Isaac wrote down many of the things his mother said during her final days, but one message stayed with him above all.

He recalls her words clearly, “Everything goes back to the ocean. The ocean takes back everything. The only thing it doesn’t take is love. Love never goes out.”

He translates them from Spanish, describing them as deeply meaningful during a time when everything in his life felt overwhelming.

Throughout King Hamlet, Lind captures how Isaac struggled privately, including his late-night phone calls about his mother’s health.

In one call, he notes how she was still holding on despite doctors predicting she had “24 to 48 hours of life left.”

Her death eventually brings the family together in grief, with his brother Mike Hernandez offering a prayer that reflects both sadness and relief, saying he felt joy knowing she was finally at peace.

The timing of her passing collided with some of the biggest turning points in Isaac’s personal and professional life.

In 2017 alone, he married Lind, welcomed their son Eugene, appeared in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and carried the weight of Hamlet onstage.

He explains in the film that the play became a lifeline for him, saying it was “the only salvation” he could find during that time.

Now, years later, Isaac says he’s grateful that King Hamlet exists as a record of everything he experienced.

Calling it “a miracle,” he praised Lind for her courage in filming such raw and painful moments.

During a post-screening Q&A, he moved the entire theater when he said, “But really, the miracle is that Elvira came into my life.”

He described how she never shies away from life’s difficult edges and continued creating even when surrounded by chaos and uncertainty.

Isaac sees the documentary as a testament to her love for him and their children, Eugene and Mads.

He admires that she dared to film during such a vulnerable period and later found the strength to revisit it and shape it into a finished work.

For him, it’s both a personal time capsule and a reminder of the enduring power of love, the very thing his mother told him “never goes out.”