Jack O’Connell may be a celebrated actor here in the UK, but across the pond, it’s been a tad more challenging to convince Hollywood of his credentials.
The British actor stars as Amy Winehouse’s former husband Blake Fielder-Civil in the new biopic Back To Black, and is also known for his TV roles in Skins and This Is England, along with films like Starred Up and Angelina Jolie’s 2014 drama Unbroken.
But despite roles alongside Hollywood heavyweights like George Clooney in Money Monster, Laura Dern in Trial By Fire and Adam Driver in Ferrari, the actor thinks he might have had more success breaking America were it not for one thing – his accent.
He said it had to do with marketability
In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Jack insisted: “The Derby twang is not marketable.”
He added: “I think Americans think I’m a hillbilly, that I support Trump, which I wouldn’t.
“But there we go, there’s f*** all I can do about it.”
Fellow Skins alumna Daniel Kaluuya, in contrast, found breakout fame after starring in Get Out and has even won an Oscar for Judas and the Black Messiah.
He also addressed Back To Black criticism
Elsewhere in his interview, Jack defended the criticism that has plagued Back To Black in the lead-up to its release. “We’re not even calling this a biopic, it’s a celebration. I can get with that,” he said.
He added that he feels “a huge amount of sympathy and empathy for what Amy was going through – that level of attention”, adding: “Thank god I don’t have that.”
Many critics were left unimpressed by Back To Black, with early reviews praising Marisa Abela’s thoughtful portrayal, while criticising the film’s surface level approach to a complicated star.