Josh O'Connor

As Wikipedia helped me figure out, you seem to have a lot of interesting hobbies! I think that's cool. If you had to pick a favorite–maybe not of all time, just something you're really liking right now–, which hobby is taking up most of your time right now? @limelightoconnor

Gardening has been dominating my life, the past couple of weeks. Of course England decides to have multiple heatwaves, leading me to having to water my garden like crazy, and make sure they don't get too much sun, and... it's been a nightmare, but it'll be so rewarding when it all survives. Usually it's not as intense a hobby, but things like this happen and it's all I can think about. What about you?

you know me so well. i'll make sure to make the literal running happen, just for laughs. movie stuff aside, how have you been? what's happening in the wonderful life of josh o'connor these days?

I can't wait to see it. I've been really good! Haven't had much chance to do things outside of movie stuff until the past couple of weeks. I'm trying to stop my whole garden from turning into dust in the English heat, other than that I don't have much going on. What about you?

why do i feel like it's been so long since i've seen you? i almost got jealous when i saw the press you were doing for disclosure day. mostly because i had so much fun when we were doing the press for knives out and all the chaos! @limelightoconnor

You're telling me, Knives Out felt like an eternity ago! We need a big cast reunion soon, life just isn't the same without you all. Until we can all be in one place, though, the two of us can get together somewhere. What are you up to right now? I'm relaxing, finally.

Damn, I was fully expecting an immediate, "No, please don't make me do this, Paul." Now I'm starting to think I'm not abusing that privilege nearly enough. So, exactly how far can I actually push it before you tell me to fuck off? Honestly, pretending to be in a band for an extended stretch is all well and good, but actually being in one and putting in all the time and effort? Fuck no. I'd be the first to skip band practice because I'd much rather be sitting in the pub with a pint in my hand, convincing myself I could somehow wing whatever gig we'd supposedly been rehearsing for... only to make an absolute mess of it. The real subtext to all of this is that I miss you loads and I'd come up with just about any excuse to rope you into spending a bit of time with me.

I don't have the ability to say no to you, Paul, how have you not seen that yet? Bring the instruments to the pub, like they do all over Ireland, and people will love it, even if we're completely terrible, they'll go "aww bless them, let them keep going". I miss you, too! As if we need an excuse to hang out, you know you can just ask me over to your place, right? Or are you spending too much time with your girlfriend?

But if you had too? Right...feel like 70 percent of Kansas city is folky. People forget that you know. Then they start getting party poopers about the sounds not sounding like they should or being too different.

The only word coming to mind is "ahhhh!!!" if that helps? I feel like people think the same about a lot of places. I spent most of my childhood living in Gloucestershire and because English people hear Cheltenham, they think it's full of posh people escaping London - which is partly true - but it's also rich with folklore and cultural history.

I know what you mean about the locals. They were so kind that after a while it started feeling like home. I think that's part of why it's been so hard letting Stromboli go. Your garden makes so much sense, though. It's the most Josh O'Connor hobby imaginable. I can picture you happily disappearing for three hours to tend to tomatoes. Wait, you didn't do press for The Crown? Or was that different because it wasn't quite the big movie circus that Wake Up Dead Man and Disclosure Day have turned into? You two did a pretty good job keeping it quiet for a while, all things considered. I'm really happy for you. If you get married, please make me a groomsmaid.

It really did, especially when I had my birthday and they all celebrated it and made me a cake. I don't think any future birthdays will be the same after that. Gardening and ceramics, that's me, baby. I sound like a very uninteresting Sim, but I don't mind. I did do press for it, but I was one part of something a lot bigger, and most people still didn't really know who I was outside of England. It's only been those last two where I find myself getting recognised all over the place, and the press for it all just felt a lot bigger and more crazy. Maybe it's just recency bias. Of course, you're top of my list, along with Saoirse and Emily.

you've gotten to act alongside some true legends, man. who's been your favorite co-star as of this moment? because i just watched "disclosure day" and the cast? star fucking studded. [ @limelightoconnor ]

I don't think it would be fair to any of them to pick one. I love all of them so much. Could you pick a favourite co-star of your own?

I'd like to think I've left you with the sort of scarring that's mostly just an increased tolerance for sarcasm and an unhealthy appreciation for dry humour. That's spectacularly patronising. Very Colin of him. I hope he knows I'm going to enjoy the day he sends me absolutely nothing until lunchtime because the Wordle has humbled him. Just don't let him get too smug. He's already unbearable enough without having you enabling him.

Calluses, that's what you've given me. Very Colin of him, he's completely predictable, but he's so charming with it, you can't help loving him. I try to keep him grounded, but do you think it works? Absolutely not.

absolutely. but if someone was lame and said i couldn't include myself, i'd say the second spot rotates. agreed and you get to see just how much firsthand when asking like that. plus you might get some ideas from other people on how to go about things after hearing about it all. do it. i'll promote the hell out of it. ah good question, man. i think it's made feel a little more comfortable with being open, you know? i want to show my girls that's okay to do and it's okay to put your real self out there.

Second spot depends on who's annoying you the least at that point in time, I suppose. You are very kind, I'll get to work on it. I love that, that's such an important thing to share with your children. I say only as a child myself, since I'm not a parent. I am so grateful to my parents for being open with their emotions, it's something I really value, because it always helped me understand my own feelings and how to deal with the good and the bad. That's more valuable than all the money in the world.

Yeah, do just that, spread the word! I did as much research as I could, but there isn't a huge amount of material about him as a person, it was a mix of digging into the historical record and trying to fill in the gaps by understanding the world he lived in. I went through as much historical material as I could, but because there's so little about him as a person, a lot of it came down to reading between the lines. Once I'd grounded myself in the history, it became an exercise in imagining the man and figuring out what might have been going on beneath the surface.

Of course I will! I'll be annoying everybody with my recommendation. I understand what you mean, once you put what you do know about him into the context, filling in the gaps is a little easier. Plus, I suppose, you take whatever direction you get from the script and how the character develops, because even though you're playing a real person, it's a fictionalised version, so there is some room to play. That's an actor's dream, though, finding a balance of all that!

Did you decide that tennis wasn't for you? Cause I totally get that. I haven't done a role that involves sport just yet but I am going to soon with a role for a NASCAR thing. There's a lot of teams that are creating unexpected wins in the world cup. It's kind of fun to hear about it. It was amazing - highly recommend you going to a game if you can.

Yeah, I am not coordinated enough to be particularly good at it. Wow, NASCAR is a fascinating thing to watch, you don't expect it to be very exciting, and then you watch it and suddenly you get it. My knowledge of it actually originally stems from Herbie: Fully Loaded, if you can believe it. Perhaps if I'm able to make it back to the US in time, I'll catch whatever game is nearby. Did you watch the England v Mexico match? What a show! And the Argentina v Cape Verde match. Both so intense.

Oh, I don't mind it at all. Please, don't apologize, knowing for sure it does comes from a place of love makes it special. It’s always a trip for people when the gap between the character and the actual human is that wide. You missing your crafty bits dude, you enjoy them even I hear.

Thank goodness, because it was going to be a challenge for me to stop myself saying it again at some point. It is, some people expect me to be like a young King Charles, but really I'm just a dorky guy who loves arts and crafts. Not quite royalty material. I do really enjoy them, yeah. I love making things. We all do, as actors and writers, right? Why not make something palpable, too?

That is exactly what we were aiming for, taking characters people think they already know inside and out, and then totally flipping the script on them with fresh backstories and unexpected connections, i love unexpected puzzles like that. It keeps the audience on their toes because they can't just rely on what they know from the original source. I’m so glad that hit the mark for you! The Durrells? Are you kidding me? That name sounds ridic but also sounds like a literal dream. Steady work is rare enough in this business, but getting to film in Corfu, that sounds damn fun for the job. Practically a paid vacation in paradise where you have to also you know work. The scenery, the atmosphere, the writing I amsure are unparalled. I am incredibly jealous. How long was it planned for you to be out there filming for?

It was so great, from conception to fruition, I loved it. Now I need to go watch it all again. If you find a way to watch it, you might enjoy it, it's about a dysfunctional English family, what's not to love? Plus the setting was everything, what a great way to build up my career. Now I get to work all over the place in more gorgeous places, but I have a soft spot for Corfu. We would spend about 2 months out of the year on the island filming.

Am I getting dangerously used to pretending I'm in a band? Yeah, I think I am. Have I also just so happened to remember that you actually have experience being in one? Also yeah. Which leaves me with only one sensible conclusion: I'm going to have to deliver a truly inspiring, borderline life-changing speech about why you and your great, great mate absolutely have to start a band together. Now, look, before you roll your eyes, hear me out. I've grown quite fond of the whole thing. There's something about standing there making a bit of noise with your mates that just feels right. So I thinkit's only fair we lean into it. We'll need to recruit a few more poor souls to complete the lineup, obviously. A bassist who knows what they're doing, a drummer who won't storm off after rehearsal, and someone who'll pretend we've got a clue when we inevitably don't. It'll be grand. We'll make at least three people very happy, one of them being me. So really, you're left with no choice here. I'm only thinking of the greater good, Josh. It'd be selfish of you to deprive the world of whatever this band turns out to be. / @limelightoconnor

I was not made for the band life, but I think I could work on it if it meant getting to be in a band with you. Not sure we'd be great at writing our own music, so maybe we can do covers or hire somebody who's good at it.

i do, which is what makes the mental image so amusing. aliens? as a big fan of anything in the sci-fi section, i'm in. once i get around to actually watching it, which should hopefully be soon, i'll come running to share my thoughts. prepare yourself.

That's why I thought you'd like me not explaining too much, so you could go in with a vague idea of aliens and enjoy it. I expect literal running towards me to share your thoughts or I won't believe your enthusiasm.