How Angelina Jolie helped spark Jack O’Connell’s career
Having marked himself out as a talent with a bright future very early on, it was inevitable Hollywood would come calling for Jack O’Connell sooner rather than later. When it did, he ended up working with one of the biggest stars in the business when Angelina Jolie directed him in Unbroken.
As far as establishing credentials as an aspiring actor go, O’Connell’s first three feature film appearances coming in Shane Meadows’ This Is England, haunting psychological horror Eden Lake, and Michael Caine’s brutal revenge thriller Harry Brown was an impressive way of going about it.
From there, the young star graduated into leading roles, further enhancing his stature when prison drama Starred Up and politically charged thriller ’71 were released within months of each other to widespread acclaim. From there, he made his mainstream debut in the fantasy sequel 300: Rise of an Empire before being hand-picked to lead Jolie’s sophomore movie Unbroken.
Louis Zamperini’s life story is nothing short of astonishing, with the runner qualifying for the 1936 Olympics. He also survived a plane crash during World War II that left him stranded at sea for 47 days before being captured and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp by the Japanese armed forces, where one commander tried to make a lesson out of him.
While Unbroken failed to live up to its early hype as a potential awards season heavy-hitter, O’Connell’s performance was undeniably stellar, with his breakthrough year culminating in the 2014 ‘Rising Star’ award from the Baftas.
Although Jolie was relatively untested as a filmmaker when they worked together, she was nonetheless an Academy Award-winning A-lister. It had to be a daunting experience for somebody who was a relative unknown in America when cameras first started rolling.
Instead of being overawed, though, O’Connell revealed the lessons he’d learned that he planned to take with him into the rest of his career to E! Online. “She’s a very selfless individual. That’s one trait I hope to inherit from her,” he said. “She knows where my priorities are; she knows I have a good relationship with my mom, and that’s very important to her.”
It was Jolie who presented O’Connell with the ‘New Hollywood Award’ at the Hollywood Film Awards, where he referred to her as “my esteemed boss, and good friend, her ladyship,” further underlining the connection they’d formed on set, with the star lending further praise to her “unconditional support and dedicated leadership.”
Even though she’s been a major star and household name since the 1990s, Jolie has always prioritised family over chasing glory in the industry. That selflessness was something O’Connell readily took on board following Unbroken. As far as learning trees go, sitting under one that’s seen almost everything Hollywood has to offer has to be regarded as one of the best.
