Josh O’Connor is on a quest to find his long lost (and dead) love.
O’Connor leads writer-director Alice Rohrwacher‘s “La Chimera,” a mystical adventure that premiered at Cannes 2023.
The official synopsis reads: “Everyone has their own Chimera, something they try to achieve but never manage to find. For the band of tombaroli, thieves of ancient grave goods and archaelogical wonders, the Chimera means redemption from work and the dream of easy wealth. For Arthur (O’Connor), the Chimera looks like the woman he lost, Beniamina. To find her, Arthur challenges the invisible, searches everywhere, goes inside the earth…all in search of the door to the afterlife of which myths speak. In an adventurous journey between the living and the dead, between forests and cities, between celebrations and solitudes, the intertwined destinies of these characters unfold, all in search of the Chimera.”
Isabella Rossellini co-stars as the mother of Arthur’s deceased lover.
O’Connor told The Hollywood Reporter that he sought to work with auteur Rohrwacher after seeing “Happy as Lazzaro” and the rest of her filmography. O’Connor wrote a letter to Rohrwacher, who then crafted the character of Arthur for him.
“I saw ‘Happy as Lazzaro,’ and then I watched ‘The Wonders’ and ‘Corpo Celeste,’ and I wrote her a letter. And we had a Zoom call,” O’Connor said. “I was in Mexico City at the time. We had an amazing call, and I loved her. And she said, ‘I have no movie for you. But maybe in the future, I will.’ And then two months later, she said ‘OK, I was making this movie with an older actor, and now I will rewrite it so you can do it.’ It was incredible.”
He added, “Alice happened to be my favorite filmmaker and, very fortunately, she asked me to do this movie. Now she’s like a sister, we’re family.”
O’Connor also revealed that his “La Chimera” character Arthur was “easier to access” emotionally than playing Prince Charles in “The Crown.”
“I love ‘The Crown,’ but that was a moment in time, an incredible moment, and I’m eternally grateful for it, but that was a character [Prince Charles] for which I really had no concept,” O’Connor said. “Of course, I never have a full concept of any character, but I found Arthur [in ‘La Chimera’] easier to access in some ways because I sort of desired what he had. I was intrigued by him, by his interest in artifacts, and, yes, even by his ability to see the unseen.”
Next, O’Connor can also be seen in Luca Guadagnino’s tennis love triangle dramedy “Challengers,” co-starring Zendaya. O’Connor physically transformed for the upcoming feature from Oscar winner Guadagnino.
“La Chimera” premieres March 29 in theaters from Neon. Check out the trailer below.
