"That's the world that British actor Josh O'Connor is living in. He starred in four projects this year: as musician David White in Oliver Hermanus' " The History of Sound," as art thief James Blaine "JB" Mooney in Kelly Reichardt's " The Mastermind," as cowboy and rancher Dusty in Max Walker-Silverman's " Rebuilding," and as Reverend Jud Duplenticy in Rian Johnson's " Wake Up Dead Man.""
"What's striking is that his characters are all echoes in some ways with his past roles and themes: O'Connor played another priest in Autumn de Wilde's " Emma," the theme of tortured and thorny love explored in "The History of Sound" appears throughout his work in " Mothering Sunday" and of course, " Challengers," the existential questions O'Connor asks in "Wake Up Dead Man" correlate with his work in " Bridgend,""
"O'Connor had a far-reaching conversation with RogerEbert.com over Zoom about his four roles in 2025 and how they fit into his body of work as a whole. He spoke about how eating scenes act as a way to understand the internal wrestlings of a character ("Eating a sandwich is an opportunity to show you who a person is," he shared), the gift of revisiting similar archetypes or themes but with different filmmakers, and where activism intersects with his artistry."
Josh O'Connor appears in four 2025 films, portraying musician David White, art thief James Blaine "JB" Mooney, cowboy and rancher Dusty, and Reverend Jud Duplenticy. The characters echo past roles and recurring themes including priestly figures, tortured and thorny love, existential questioning, and the lengths people go to steal and covet art. Eating scenes serve as a device to reveal internal character wrestlings: "Eating a sandwich is an opportunity to show you who a person is." The films span genres and directors, allowing similar archetypes to be explored through distinct creative lenses while intersecting with activism and artistry.
Read at Roger Ebert
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