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To be called a “star of the future” is quite a high compliment, no matter who it comes from. But when you’ve got Sir Michael Caine telling you that, especially after a take that involves you spitting in his face, that’s truly a special story. It’s also the complete truth, as actor Jack O’Connell’s current run on the 2025 movie schedule seems to have proven the veteran English thespian quite right; and then some.
While being interviewed as part of the press rounds for Warner Bros’ box-office smash Sinners, O’Connell was asked in fan questions submitted to The Guardian about a deep cut from his filmography. Playing Marky, a young criminal who’s run afoul of Caine’s titular character Harry Brown, the 2009 revenge thriller saw a pretty intense scene lead to the spit take in question. As you’ll see in Jack O’Connell’s description of the scene, his starstruck reaction to that moment is pretty understandable:
Michael Caine had me tied up to a chair, interrogating me. I had to spit in his face, which was massively daunting. I think it was doing that that caused him to come out with that. I’ve not forgotten it. It was totally mind-blowing for a 19-year-old to be working with someone like Michael Caine, a hugely important actor for young, working-class actors.
Having this sort of experience at any phase in your career is something to post to your metaphorical fridge. But reading through this account of the moment makes it even more impressive, especially since the Skins vet banked that role around the same time he was coming up as a star in the BBC teen drama’s cast.
Which, if you’ve been on social media at all, is yet another fact that Sinners’ social media meme-fest has brought to people’s minds. Picturing O’Connell along with Daniel Kaluyya, Nicholas Hoult, Dev Patel, and Kaya Scodelario, the notion that Skins stars are destined to show up in upcoming horror movies is undeniable.
However, as we’ve seen through stories recently shared through Michael Caine’s latest memoir, the legendary storyteller/actor has always been kind to young talent on the rise. Whether it’s fond memories of Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight, or Caine calling Vin Diesel “his son” after first meeting him, the venerated performer is as good of a mentor as you’d expect from someone who’s played Alfred Pennyworth for Christopher Nolan.
One has to imagine what Jack O’Connell’s Harry Brown co-star thinks of his recent turns in cinema, especially with yet another opportunity to scare packed cinemas coming in 28 Years Later. Better still, it’d be fun to see if Mr. O’Connell has had the chance to catch up with his previous mentor, to catch up over the years.
No matter the answers to those scenarios, the fact that Michael Caine’s comments are still hyping the young actor up almost 20 years later is certainly nothing to sneeze, or rather spit, at.