Jack O'Connell Biography

Jack O'Connell (born 1 August 1990) is an English actor. He is best known for playing Pukey Nicholls in This Is England (2006), Marky in Harry Brown (2009), as James Cook in the E4 teen drama Skins and Eric in Starred Up (2014). He is set to star in the Angelina Jolie directed war-drama Unbroken based on the life of Louis Zamperini.

Early life

O'Connell was born in Alvaston, Derby, the son of Alison J. (ne Gutteridge), who worked for British Midland, and John Patrick O'Connell, who worked on the railways for Bombardier. His father was Irish (from Kerry) and his mother is English. His maternal grandfather, Ken Gutteridge, was a professional football player and manager. He attended Saint Benedict Catholic School. He left school at sixteen with two GCSEs: a B in drama and C in English.

Career

O'Connell made his professional acting debut in 2005 appearing in an episode of the British soap opera Doctors, along with four episodes as character Ross Trecot in The Bill. In 2006, O'Connell made his film debut in This Is England, a story about a boy growing up in 1980s England. During 2007, O'Connell made several minor television appearances in Waterloo Road, Holby City, and Wire in the Blood. He would go on to star in the play Scarborough, performed at the Edinburgh Festival, a role he reprised the following year upon its transfer to the Royal Court Theatre, London. In October of that same year, O'Connell starred in an educational DVD, Between You and Me, produced by Derbyshire Constabulary, in which his character Alfie Gilchrist encounters a range of issues including underage drinking, fake ID, peer pressure, and car theft. Youth Work Now magazine described his performance as "outstanding".

O'Connell appeared in the horror/thriller Eden Lake (2008) as the film villain Brett, the ITV television serial of Wuthering Heights (2009), and as James Cook in the third/fourth/seventh installments of the E4 Series Skins, which premiered in January 2009/10/13. O'Connell appears in the British crime thriller Harry Brown (2009) with Michael Caine, playing the role of Marky. Subsequently, O'Connell featured in the music video of End Credits by UK Drum and Bass act Chase & Status, which was the official song released from the movie's soundtrack.

In July 2010, O'Connell starred alongside Aisling Loftus in the BBC Two two-part drama Dive as the programme's lead male character, Robert, where a young teenage couple must come to terms with an unexpected pregnancy. His performance was described by The Observer reviewer Euan Ferguson as "a performance that is of an actor twice his years: mesmerising, comedic and soulful". O'Connell won the best actor award at the 2010 TV Choice awards for his role as Skins character James Cook.

O'Connell was initially cast as Ethan Wate in the film Beautiful Creatures, but dropped out of the film because of scheduling issues and was replaced by Alden Ehrenreich.

According to Variety, O'Connell was among one of the top candidates for the role of Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four, which went to Miles Teller.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	This Is England	Pukey Nicholls
2006	Black Dog	Chris	Short film
2008	Eden Lake	Brett	Fright Meter Award Best Supporting Actor International Fantasy Film Award for Best Actor
2009	Wayfaring Stranger	Bobby Brewer	Short film
2009	Harry Brown	Marky
2010	The Hardest Part	Thug	Short film
2011	Weekender	Dylan
2011	The Somnambulists	Man 10
2011	Shelter	Charlie	Short film
2012	Private Peaceful	Charlie Peaceful
2012	The Liability	Adam
2012	Tower Block	Kurtis
2013	Starred Up	Eric Love	Dublin International Film Festival Award for Best Actor Les Arcs International Film Festival Award for Best Actor Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Best Actor
2014	300: Rise of an Empire	Calisto
2014	Unbroken	Louis Zamperini	National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance New Hollywood Award
2014	'71	Gary	Pending - British Independent Film Award for Best Actor
2015	Tulip Fever	William	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Doctors	Connor Yates	Episode: "Like Father, Like Son"
2005	The Bill	Ross Trescot	4 episodes
2007	Waterloo Road	Dale Baxter	1 episode
2007	Holby City	Davey Hunt	Episode: "Trust"
2007	Wire in the Blood	Jack Norton	Episode: "The Names of Angels"
2009	Wuthering Heights	Shepherd Lad
2010	Dive	Robert Wisley
2011	United	Bobby Charlton
2011	The Runaway	Eamonn Docherty	6 episodes
2009-2010, 2013	Skins	James Cook	TV Choice Award for Best Actor TV Quick Award for Best Actor Nominated - Monte-Carlo TV Festival Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series