The Crown star Josh O'Connor's TV and film roles from Peaky Blinders to Prince Charles

CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images
CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images

The Crown has made household names of original cast members Claire Foy, Matt Smith and Vanessa Kirby - and we'd be willing to bet it will have precisely that effect on Josh O'Connor.

The 29-year-old star made his debut as Prince Charles in the third series of Netflix's royal drama, impressing audiences with his sympathetic portrayal of the young heir - and with his ability to reel off a speech in fluent(ish) Welsh in episode six.

As the drama moves into its fourth season, O'Connor's acting talents will be put further to the test as Peter Morgan's script grapples with the Prince's whirlwind engagement and subsequent marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales - and his continued romance with Camilla Parker Bowles - in what promise to be some of the show's most contentious storylines yet.

Before he joined Netflix's royal family, though, you might have spotted O'Connor in a string of British TV and film roles - and if you didn't, here's where you can catch up on his work...

Emma

It won’t be out until next year, but you might have spotted O’Connor in the recent trailer for a forthcoming adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role. O’Connor plays the social-climbing clergyman Mr Elton.

The Durrells

O'Connor (seated) appeared in four series of The Durrells (ITV / Sid Gentle Productions)
O'Connor (seated) appeared in four series of The Durrells (ITV / Sid Gentle Productions)

Before his royal role, O’Connor was best known for his part on cosy Sunday night drama The Durrells. He played aspiring novelist Lawrence, the eldest of the Durrell clan, in all four series of the Corfu-set programme, with Keeley Hawes as his on-screen mother, Louisa.

Les Miserables

O'Connor with Ellie Bamber in Les Miserables (BBC/Lookout Point/Robert Viglasky)
O'Connor with Ellie Bamber in Les Miserables (BBC/Lookout Point/Robert Viglasky)

The BBC’s recent adaptation of the epic novel may have lacked in songs (it took its cues from Victor Hugo’s book, rather than the Schönberg and Boublil musical we know and love) it more than made up for it with a star-studded cast. O’Connor played lovestruck student revolutionary Marius, alongside Ellie Bamber as Cosette, David Oyelowo as Javert and his future on-screen mum Olivia Colman as Madame Thernardier.

God’s Own Country

He generated major awards buzz thanks to his performance in God's Own Country ()
He generated major awards buzz thanks to his performance in God's Own Country ()

His turn as a troubled farmer struggling with his sexuality rightly earned O’Connor a Best Actor trophy at the British Independent Film Awards and also helped land him a nomination for BAFTA’s prestigious EE Rising Star Award.

Florence Foster Jenkins

O’Connor had a brief role in the 2016 drama Florence Foster Jenkins - which he almost turned down to attend Glastonbury instead, before realising that he’d be able to act alongside Meryl Streep. “I got this call saying, ‘There’s this film with Stephen Frears’ - who I had worked with before - and, ‘They want you to do a day on it,’” he told Lorraine Kelly.

“And I said, ‘Well I can’t, I’m going to Glastonbury, and that’s the most important thing.’ And then they said, ‘Oh, Meryl Streep is in it.’”

The Riot Club

The big screen version of Laura Wade’s acclaimed play Posh, which focuses on the disturbing exploits of an uber-privileged Oxbridge dining ‘club,’ starred a coterie of young British actors - including O’Connor, Douglas Booth, Sam Claflin and Max Irons.

Peaky Blinders

The actor had a brief character arc in the second series of the Brummie period drama, starring as Ada Thorne’s tenant James, a struggling writer who has little money. He ends up becoming briefly embroiled in one of Tommy Shelby’s schemes when he accompanies the gangster to London.

Ripper Street

O’Connor appeared in the third series of the BBC’s Victorian crime drama Ripper Street, in a supporting role as Bobby Grace, a junior constable in Whitechapel’s H Division alongside Matthew Macfadyen’s Detective Inspector Edmund Reid and Jerome Flynn’s Sergeant Drake.

Lewis

When it comes to launching the careers of rising stars, Lewis might well be the new Holby City. Like almost every other twenty-something actor (see also Daniel Kaluuya, Taron Egerton and Lucy Boynton) O’Connor took an early role in Oxford’s second best-known detective drama. He appears in the 2011 episode Generation of Vipers.

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