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Derbyshire’s finest, Jack O’Connell is having what’s officially known in the business as a ‘bloody massive moment’. Hot off the back of his magnetic, Irish-dancing vampire Remmick in Sinners, he’s back with another slice of charismatic malevolence in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. In a sequel of rare ferocity and emotional depth, the Brit brings ultra-dark new energy as Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, a vicious cult leader who makes post-apocalyptic Britain’s infected hordes look like a bundle of kittens.
But cast an eye back over his IMDb page and it’s hard to find a period when the 35-year-old wasn’t having a moment. From his eye-catching breakthrough roles in This Is England, Skins and Harry Brown – the latter earning him the tag ‘star of the future’ from Michael Caine – to arresting lead turns in visceral British indies like ’71 and Starred Up, and big budget Hollywood fare like Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, not to mention his scene-stealing bad boyfriend in Amy Winehouse drama Back to Black, O’Connell’s become one of those actors you just can’t take your eyes off. We asked the man himself to talk through eight of the key films and TV shows on his CV to chart his journey so far.
Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
In the new 28 Years Later sequel, O’Connell shines as a psychopath gang leader styled, after a fashion, on Jimmy Savile, whose line in violent Satanism connects the dots between A Clockwork Orange and The Witchfinder General.
‘Is he the darkest character I've played? He has to be. We see him witness the terrible massacre of his nearest and dearest at such a young age and from there, he’s corrupted entirely. That was the entry point for me. He's an arresting guy… and I love the fact that he's quite pristine. It's suggestive of his importance within his clan – there was a real flamboyance to how he was written. Once them rings go on, you can't help but try and show them off – the jewellery, the tiara, the dialect and things. You automatically go: “Whoa, fucking who is this guy?” He's a fucking curious figure.’ The Jimmy Savile stuff is there to unsettle. Do I keep mementos from shoots? I kept the tracksuit and the tiara.’
You go: Whoa, fucking who is this guy? He’s a fucking curious figure
Was this my first Scottish accent? I guess it was. We were listening to a guy from Fort William. He's one of those people who volunteers to dialect coaches and they just record them speaking. So there’s one guy who's probably responsible for a lot of Sir Jimmy.’
Pukey Nicholls in This Is England (2006)
In his first film role, O’Connell joined the Shane Meadows school of moviemaking as a teenager under the spell of a Stephen Graham’s National Front member Combo.
‘I watched This Is England again last year and I really love it. I think great films age well and this one definitely has. It was a great [experience], a completely different style of filmmaking. There wasn't a script in sight. It wasn't: “here's your script, learn those lines, stand on that mark.” There was none of that. With Shane, it's a little bit like theatre; you're rehearsing quite intensively and it's all spontaneous.’
Brett in Eden Lake (2008)
Cook in Skins (2009-2013)
Like Nicholas Hoult, Daniel Kaluuya, Kaya Scodelario and Dev Patel, O’Connell is a product of the Skins talent factory. Cocky, charismatic and unchained, his livewire Cook remains a calling card 15 years on.
‘I love discussing Cook, discussing Skins. [It taught me] everything I hadn't learned from doing the Shane Meadows style. It was as if we were all at a university of TV making. After two years, you got the hang of it. We were handling this amazing material. I think we were really onto something in that period of time. It was for the whole household, wasn't it? I mean, maybe not for youngsters.’
Eric Love in Starred Up (2013)
O’Connell is a supposedly uncontrollable young offender ‘starred up’ to an adult prison in David Mackenzie’s inspired-by-real-life drama. And he’s a force of nature, capturing the character’s vulnerability as well as his volatility.
‘I’m super proud of this film, man. We filmed in this disused Victorian jail with a terrible history – I was reading suicide notes on the walls – and it was low-budget British filmmaking, so the food was shit, and we were all just piecing it together. But I love what it inspired – a shared ambition of telling this story in a cast and crew. Letting go of characters has never phased me. You finish the picture and you put them down.’
Louis Zamperini in Unbroken (2014)
The actor’s career took a leap forward when Angelina Jolie cast him in her wartime epic as a real-life Italian-American airman and Olympian who survived 47 days at sea and several Japanese POW camps.
‘If you’re portraying this story, you can't be getting fed grapes and being pampered. It was blistering hot and they built the prison camp, so the sun was beating down on us and we were all on these horrific diets – 50 grams of protein, veg and miso soup. But I don't know how you [can] fake it. Did this role take me out of my comfort zone? Yeah, definitely. It was daunting, there was more pressure. Getting to meet Angelina in person [ahead of my casting] was so great. If the process had been over Zoom, I don't think I would have got the part. I don't know how much you're able to offer just speaking in a chat room. She took a huge risk casting me.’
Paddy Mayne in SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022-)
Playing one of World War II’s maddest bastards, SAS officer Paddy Mayne, in Steven Knight’s terrific BBC series is another perfect stage for O’Connell’s unpredictable choices and coiled-spring screen presence.
‘This period of history is fascinating. We're all new to Paddy Mayne's journey because it was all classified. I like him because he leads by example. A resentment for hierarchy and all of that. I had to go through some shit on that job: Saharan sandstorms were tough, man. There comes a point where you're just a dung beetle, so just fucking accept that, shut your eyes, curl up into a ball and hope it passes. We’ve shot season 3; we’re continuing on that campaign into France and Germany.’
Blake Fielder-Civil in Back to Black (2024)
Sinners’ Irish jig isn’t the only recent O’Connell shimmy of note. Playing Amy Winehouse’s (Marisa Abela) bad boy boyfriend, he uncorks some moves to The Shangri-Las in the film’s standout scene filmed at Camden’s The Good Mixer.
‘That dance was conjured up in my bathroom. I can't rock up on the day and see what happens ’cos I'd fall apart. Once I'd sat with Blake and understood his experience of that time, that sent me off on a bit of a path [to finding the character]. There was a couple of essential characteristics I wanted to go with: I wanted to sound like him and I wanted to hold myself like him. Some [real-life characters] are so household, an audience will require you to mimic them perfectly – some actors are fucking exceptional at that, but I'm not sure how strong a mimic I am. With Blake, there was room for manoeuvre.’
Remmick in Sinners (2025)
Millennia-old Irish vampire Remmick is another charismatic showcase of the actor’s chops in Ryan Coogler’s smash-hit blues-and-bloodshed horror epic.
‘The cast was a really special bunch, so to see all the recognition, it's really personal. The most interesting characters tend to be quite complex, which applies to Remmick and (28 Years Later’s) Sir Jimmy Crystal. “Fellowship and love” was our mantra on set. At 4am when people are waning, you'd just hear it from across the way. “Fellowship and love!” Ryan Coogler casting me will always mean a great deal.’
Read our verdict on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.
From the archive: Jack O’Connell on playing a hunted squaddie in ’71.