Actor Josh O'Connor | Breakthrough Brits 2017

For Josh, the most exciting part about being an actor is the chance to understand the lives of others. Driven by transformative roles like Johnny Saxby in God’s Own Country, it’s this opportunity to walk in the shoes of others that drives Josh onwards.

Josh had always enjoyed acting and painting, but coming from a family where nobody worked in the creative arts, applying for drama school was a huge leap of faith. His teachers and parents encouraged him to apply, and he landed in a place studying acting at Bristol Old Vic. For his audition speech, Josh took the risk of portraying a 60-year-old man from an Alan Ayckbourn play, which Bristol’s admissions team applauded. To that end, it’s Josh’s belief that you shouldn’t second guess what people are looking for, but instead follow your instincts.

The day before the Sundance premiere of God’s Own Country, Josh remembers meeting an elderly couple from Utah on a bus. He invited them to attend the premiere, and after the screening they found him in the auditorium. The film had left them in tears and, for Josh, the connection with these people was the ultimate compliment. It’s a feeling he will use to guide him as he moves forward in his career.

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