A new photograph of This Is England star Jack O’Connell has been commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery.
The portrait, taken by photographer Tereza Cervenova, was commissioned through the John Kobal New Work Award, which is awarded annually to a photographer under 35.
The picture was taken in the garden at O’Connell’s family home in Derby to challenge the image of an angry youth that is associated with his acting roles such as the blue-collar teenager Pukey Nicholls in This Is England, a young murderer in Eden Lake and a drug addict in Harry Brown.
He is currently starring as Brick in a production of Tennessee Williams’ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at the Apollo Theatre in London.
Break a leg to the entire company ahead of the #YoungVicCat press night tonight. We can't wait! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/EtA8qx6SqA
— Young Vic Theatre (@youngvictheatre) July 24, 2017
In the picture O’Connell is reflected through a window as his torso apparently emerges intertwined with panels of a wooden fence.
Cervenova said: “In portraiture my aim is always to manage to unveil what lies beneath the surface and meet the real person behind it and thanks to Jack’s openness, seeing through the ‘actor’s shield’ was both natural as well as effortless.
“Jack was very generous not only with his time but also with his thoughts and stories.
“It was great to have the full support and trust of the National Portrait Gallery and the John Kobal Foundation when it came to the execution and choice of the final portrait, which for me shows the juxtaposition of strength and vulnerability in a setting where the boundaries between the interior and the exterior are blurred and Jack emerges interlaced in both.”
Dr Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, added: “In sponsoring this award the John Kobal Foundation offers a young artist a great opportunity to photograph a sitter connected with the UK film industry.
“We are delighted that in an innovatively composed photograph by Tereza Cervenova, Jack O’Connell now joins Felicity Jones, Olivia Colman and Andrea Riseborough in this exciting series of portraits commissioned from selected photographers in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize.”
The photograph will go on display at the gallery in 2018.
