COn Cannes 2025 Josh O ‘Connor enter the aristocracy. Nothing to do with the Windsor, however: the Charles of The Crownwith two films in competition, he enrolled in the very exclusive Isabelle Huppert club (in 1980 he participated in the Festival with three films in the race, The Heiresses, Loulou And Every man for Himself) and Léa Seydoux (here in 2021 with France, The Story of My Wife And The French dispatch). In The History of Sound by Oliver Hermanus He is a student of the Conservatory in love with the “singer” Paul Mescal, in The Mastermind by Kelly Reichardt It is an unemployed carpenter Who thinks of solving his problems with the theft of four canvases at the museum of his town in Massachusetts … a born loser.
Croisette veteran
Josh O’Connor with Alana Haim, co -star of “The Mastermind” (Getty Images).
O ‘Connor It is not a neophyte of the Croisette: In 2021 he brought – in the section Cannes Première – Mothering Sunday by Eva Husson; In 2023 – in competition – The chimera by Alice Rohrwacher. Hyperactive (after all Challengers by Luca Guadagnino came out only last year), during the week for work commitments he could not support The History of Sound: it arrived just in time for the Montées des marques (the red carpet in canal sauce) of The Mastermindon the last competition evening of this edition of the Festival. But he did not bring back from talking about the film with Mescal, whose story starts from their meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1916.
«Lionel (Mescal, editor’s note) has synaesthesia, a neurological phenomenon: it manages to see colors and perceive emotions when listening to music. It also has an extraordinary voice. I, on the other hand, are a sort of archivist, Fascinated by the collection of old American popular songs. Together we take a very intense and touching journey. And, at a certain point I disappear … »he told Deadlinethe Hollywood site specialized in news on the showbiz.
“I learned to play”
«I didn’t know how to play the piano before filming and, in reality, I don’t know how to do it now, but I took some lessons and in the end something I learned. I think one of the things that the film manages to do in an extraordinary way is to transmit a sense of nostalgia, regret and loss »he continued The thirty -five year old British actor, trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theater School, which we will soon see also in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Third adventure of the yellow agatha Christie style with Daniel Craig.
Josh O ‘Connor: Time travel
Josh O ‘Connor with Paul Mescal in Oliver Hermanus’s “The History of Sound”.
Also for The Mastermind O ‘Connor had to travel through time, but this time stopping at the 70s, during the Vietnam War. «The political situation remains in the background, in reality. The story talks about this man, James Mooney, who desperately tries to support his family and to make a name. In a sense, he is a missed artist. Kelly is truly one of my absolute favorite directors. Really. There is a small group of authors with whom I have always dreamed of working, and Reichardt is one of them. Working with her was a real pleasure. It is a film in perfect Kelly style: watch the world through the people who remain on the margins, not the ones you would expect. He often told of artists, and here too there is that atmosphere. It is almost as if the Vietnam War observed … by looking at the gaze ».
On Spielberg set
After the transition to Cannes, O ‘Connor is expected in the United States for the filming of Steven Spielberg’s new (still without title) project. Colin Firth co -star, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson and Emily Blunt. “About a year ago, I was in New York and on the evening of the Met Gala I received a message from my agent who said:” Can you meet Spielberg tomorrow for a coffee? “. And I replied: “Of course!”. I went to his office, to the Amblin. He told me he didn’t have a script yet, but he told me about the plot of the film and then asked me: “Would you like to shoot it?”. I for a moment: “Let me think about it”. Obviously, I joked: the best in the world is fantastic. It’s a dream ».
With the Spielberg set on the horizon, two films at the Festival, three out (there is also Rebuilding by Max Walker-Silverman), e Knives Out coming, that it is a workaholic thread? He denies. He feels the lack of home – he says – and take care of his fig trees and his vegetable garden.
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