Jack O'Connell Interview -71

Jack O'Connell in, 71

Jack O'Connell is a talented English actor who shows his acting chops best while playing angry, troubled youth. Born and raised in Derby, he trained in acting at the Television Workshop, which led to his film debut in the coming-of-age drama This Is England. We most recently saw him starring in Angelina Jolie's drama, Unbroken where he played real life hero Olympian Louis Zamperini  who after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

His latest film is 71  which is set in Belfast during The Troubles - the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. O'Connell plays Private Gary Hook, a young wounded soldier who struggles to get back to his unit. The thriller premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2014 and went on to complete the festival circuit, including the Toronto International Film Festival picking up accolades for it's director Yann Demange and O'Connell. 

I spoke with the delightfully charming Jack O'Connell during the Toronto International Film Festival about working on 71 and how challenging it was for him to take on this character. Please click on the link below for the interview. 

71 opens in theaters in Toronto and Vancouver on March 13th, 2015. A wider release is planned.