Josh O'Connor drawn to flawed protagonist in Cannes entry 'The Mastermind'

Reuters

24-05-2025

CANNES, France, May 24 (Reuters) - Rising British actor Josh O'Connor was drawn to how normal his character in "The Mastermind", a suburban dad who cooks up an art heist, seemed when he signed on to U.S. director Kelly Reichardt's new film that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
"When we go to the theatres, we see often times the most extreme versions of characters, of human nature. And that's what we know is drama," O'Connor told journalists on Saturday.
However, "I find now that I often want to see ordinary people put in kind of extraordinary positions," said the actor who played Prince Charles in the TV series "The Crown."
O'Connor's James Mooney is an unemployed carpenter with a wife, played by Alana Haim, and two children in 1970s Massachusetts who decides he wants to steal four paintings by early American modernist Arthur Dove from the local city museum.
The plan begins to unravel almost from the get-go as Mooney, with no criminal experience, steals the art but is forced to hide out, away from his family, while police search for him.
"The Mastermind" is one of two films in competition for the festival's top prize that star O'Connor, the other being the gay period romance "The History of Sound" with Paul Mescal.
The actor described Mooney's overconfident plan as a "work of art in itself," one that comes from privilege and "from generations of men being told that they deserve something more."
For the film, director Reichardt said she was interested in exploring New Hollywood's typical "bumbling jerk" character who can do whatever he wants and still be liked by the audience.
Examples include Robert De Niro's Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver" or any Jack Nicholson character, said the director of films including "First Cow," "Old Joy" and "Wendy and Lucy."
"I'm interested in that tradition, but I'm also interested in breaking it down a little bit and looking at how the parts of it work and then kind of fall apart," she told journalists.
Streaming platform Mubi, which bought "The Mastermind," gave the film the resources needed and then did not impose on how it was made, said Reichardt, calling it a "very fortunate thing".
"All the arts in America are, like science and education, are really obviously in a very precarious situation right now," said Reichardt, adding: "America's in such a dark place."