It takes a certain kind of actor to convincingly step into morally grey and often deeply unsettling characters, and make audiences feel something beyond fear or discomfort. Over the years, Jack O’Connell has quietly built a reputation for doing exactly that.
From intense, emotionally layered performances to roles that flirt with outright darkness, O’Connell has never shied away from complexity. And with his latest project, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, he’s once again leaning into that intensity, this time as Jimmy Crystal, a character defined as much by his brutality as his inner contradictions.
Ahead of the release of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, LADbible Australia spoke with Jack O’Connell about playing dark, multi-layered characters, learning on set from Ralph Fiennes and why acting, for all its challenges, continues to expand his perspective on the world.
Looking back at the beginning of your career to now, there’s a clear through-line of you playing quite complex and layered characters. How does Jimmy Crystal stack up against some of the more challenging roles you’ve taken on?
I think he’s multi-layered. I think people, generally, are very complex creatures. So if the writing is there and it’s as rich as that, then it’s great to go there and explore it and develop those layers. I have to thank Nia [DaCosta] as well for going along with me on all of that.
You’re working alongside Ralph Fiennes in this film — how much do you relish those on-screen moments with actors of that calibre?
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They’re just really rewarding. It’s what you get to learn. It can’t be replicated. You just have to be an attentive little student. It was a beautiful experience, a beautiful couple of days on set — working that intensively with Ralph. I’ll always look back on that very fondly.
Are you the kind of actor who does a lot of research when preparing for a role? And did you find yourself diving into Satanism at all for this character?
Yeah, I do like to prepare a lot. But Satanism, I didn’t really do a deep dive on that for this. For me, the major hang-up was the voice, sounding legitimately Scottish, and then the physicality. And then just kind of revelling in his sadism. I looked more at imagery, depictions of Satan, which informed me in some way. It’s hard to recall now because we’re going back a couple of years since we shot it. Maybe I need to prepare more for interviews.
You’ve built an incredible body of work over the years. Are you someone who reflects a lot on the journey, or do you prefer to live in the moment?
I love reminiscing. The memories you get from doing this line of work are amazing. It takes you to some very crazy places. I’ve been in the Arctic, then in the Sahara the following year. The memories you amass are pretty polarising. I wish I was better at keeping mementos, actually. I’m very grateful to get to do this and travel the world while meeting incredible people. As an actor, your heart is constantly expanding. You’re teaching yourself to care about things you’d never otherwise experience. It’s a real pleasure and a privilege.
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If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice about acting, what would it be?
It would probably be more about understanding how the industry works as a mechanism. I was really naive to it as a youngster, and I think it’s quite useful to understand, but there’s no real crash course. I didn’t train at drama school or anything like that. I came into it through a free, improvisation-based workshop that Shane Meadows was casting from. So I kind of learned everything on the job.
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28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is out now in HOYTS cinemas. Grab your tickets here.
Kailah Haddad