Josh O’Connor

Joshua Mathias O'Connor is an English actor born on 20 May 1990. Raised in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after moving from Newbury at five years old, he grew up in a family of three boys with a teacher father and midwife mother. His artistic background included his grandfather, sculptor John Bunting, and his grandmother, a ceramicist. Initially interested in becoming a professional artist, O'Connor pursued rugby before discovering acting. He attended St Edward's School in Cheltenham and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 2011 before moving to London.

O'Connor began his screen career in 2012 with roles in the television series Lewis and the film The Eschatrilogy: Book of the Dead. Over the next few years, he secured television roles in Doctor Who, Law & Order: UK, Peaky Blinders, and Ripper Street, alongside his professional stage debut in Farragut North in 2013. He appeared in feature films including The Riot Club (2014), Bridgend (2015), and The Program (2015), and performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in The Shoemaker's Holiday and Oppenheimer. From 2016 to 2019, he starred as Lawrence "Larry" Durrell in the ITV comedy-drama series The Durrells.

His breakthrough film performance came in 2017 when he starred as sheep farmer Johnny Saxby in Francis Lee's romantic drama God's Own Country. His portrayal earned him the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor and the Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer. He earned a second British Independent Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in the romantic drama Only You (2018). He subsequently portrayed Marius Pontmercy in the 2019 television adaptation of Les Misérables and starred in the film Hope Gap (2019).

O'Connor achieved wider international recognition portraying Charles, Prince of Wales, in seasons three and four of the Netflix drama series The Crown (2019–2020). His performance in the fourth season earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, a Golden Globe Award, and a Critics' Choice Television Award, alongside nominations for British Academy Television Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Following his work on television, O'Connor took on feature film roles including Mr. Elton in Emma (2020), Romeo in a 2021 television film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, and roles in Mothering Sunday (2021), Lee (2023), and La chimera (2023). In 2024, he starred opposite Zendaya and Mike Faist in Luca Guadagnino's romantic sports film Challengers. His subsequent projects include The History of Sound (2025), The Mastermind (2025), Wake Up Dead Man (2025), and Disclosure Day (2026).

Beyond acting, O'Connor created the Waterlogged initiative to raise funds for the mental health charity Mind and supported organizations such as War Child UK. He became a brand ambassador for Loewe in 2017 and for Dior in 2026. After residing in Shoreditch and briefly in New York, he relocated to Gloucestershire near Stroud in 2023.