'Disclosure Day' star Josh O'Connor shares Spielberg's accidental text : NPR

Key Points:

• Actor Josh O'Connor shares that a late-night text from Steven Spielberg, originally meant for the director's wife, gave him crucial acting insight during filming of the blockbuster Disclosure Day, where he plays a cybersecurity expert uncovering alien evidence.
• O'Connor describes the filmmaking process on Disclosure Day as intimate and collaborative, similar to smaller projects, praising Spielberg for maintaining a small, focused set environment.
• The actor uses a unique method of creating scrapbooks or character bibles to delve into his roles, including sketches inspired by his character's psychology for Disclosure Day, which he displayed in his Manhattan apartment.
• Reflecting on his Emmy-winning role as Prince Charles in The Crown, O'Connor initially resisted the part due to personal views on monarchy but was persuaded by the character's complex emotional motivation related to family dynamics.
• O'Connor recounts his immersive preparation for God's Own Country, living and working on a farm to authentically embody his character, and discusses the emotional difficulty he experiences when concluding a project, often resulting in illness due to the grief of leaving a role.