Josh O'Connor reveals why his first scene with Josh Brolin wasn't great

Josh O’Connor, who stars alongside an ensemble cast including Daniel Craig, Josh Brolin and more, talked about how the latter gave him first-day jitters.

The Crown star plays the young, irreverent Rev. Jud Duplenticy in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, whose faith is shaken when he becomes the prime suspect in an impossible murder that rocks his small-town congregation.

The story begins when Jud arrives at his new parish and meets the powerful, fear-mongering Msgr. Wicks (Brolin), who soon becomes his nemesis.

O’Connor, in conversation with Entertainment Weekly, shared that he felt very nervous on his first day of filming so much so, that he ultimately had to ask director Rian Johnson to redo the pivotal scene.

Talking about the scene, the Challengers star said, “It's a really important scene, and it's also an incredibly brilliantly-written scene and very funny.”

He added, “I was dreading it, is the truth, because it was the first scene Josh and I did together."

The scene in question was their first meeting, when Jud offers to hear Wicks' confession.

Wicks unleashes a long, explicit monologue detailing all of his sins from the past week, intentionally making Jud uncomfortable.

"The truth is, it didn't go brilliantly,” O’Connor admitted. “Josh's coverage was incredible. I did a few takes, and I just wasn't getting it. I didn't feel comfortable.”

He continued, “I actually had to call Rian that night and say, 'Look, Rian, I know we haven't got the time, but if there's any way we can go back and shoot my coverage again, because what Josh did was so special and I was too overwhelmed, I couldn't match it.'"

Luckily, the writer-director agreed and he was able to pre-shoot the scene, praising Johnson, saying that he is so “grateful for” it.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is now streaming on Netflix.