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Josh O\u2019Connor<\/a> heard a quote once that said that Steven Spielberg was like \u201cthe director of every child\u2019s imagination.\u201d <\/p>\n The British actor may not have grown up in a moviegoing family, but he was still very aware the Spielberg thing as a ’90s kid. It\u2019s just in our psyche, O\u2019Connor told The Associated Press in a recent interview. <\/p>\n There were Blockbuster nights, of course, with viewings of \u201cE.T.\u201d and he\u2019s since caught up with the classics. But even he was taken aback by just how ingrained those quintessential Spielberg images were on his first day shooting \u201cDisclosure Day.\u201d<\/a> They were on a backlot, he said, and there were dripping pipes and big beams of light and smoke and mist. It was an environment he recognized so vividly. All he could think was, \u201cWow, I\u2019m in a Steven Spielberg movie.\u201d<\/p>\n While very little is known about the plot of \u201cDisclosure Day,\u201d which opens in theaters on June 12, it’s territory that Spielberg knows well. And it has been suggested by Emily Blunt, and confirmed by O’Connor, that it answers some questions raised by \u201cClose Encounters of the Third Kind.\u201d O\u2019Connor plays a cybersecurity expert who has a mysterious connection with Blunt\u2019s meteorologist. He holds some truths that the men in suits don’t want the world to know. <\/p>\n O\u2019Connor spoke to the AP about the film, the secrecy, the awe of watching it for the first time and having \u201cthe greatest Steven Spielberg story.\u201d Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.<\/p>\n AP: Have you been able to take stock of this whole experience?<\/p>\n O\u2019CONNOR: It\u2019s sort of still quite surreal. There have been many directors for me where it\u2019s felt like kind of intensely surreal in the lead up to going and doing a movie with a person and then once you start, it sort of settles down and then the next thing you know you\u2019re best friends with that director and it\u2019s all just very normal. I do feel very close to Steven, but it still feels surreal having shot it. And every aspect of making this film was like a pinch-me moment, including seeing it for the first time. It\u2019s sort of a dream for anyone.<\/p>\n AP: Was he what you expected?<\/p>\n O\u2019CONNOR: He was more than I expected. He\u2019s got this energy about him. He\u2019s still so excited. He\u2019s still like a child. He\u2019s inquisitive. He is excited about performance. You know, there\u2019s nothing better in the universe than hearing Steven by a monitor, crying or laughing or shouting with joy. He\u2019s still, I imagine, that same director he was when he made \u201cJaws\u201d or \u201cE.T.\u201d or any of those other classics. So yeah, he\u2019s still got it. I can confirm he\u2019s still got it<\/p>\n AP: What can you tell us about your character?<\/p>\n O\u2019CONNOR: Daniel\u2019s got some special powers. I\u2019m resistant to saying that because I think it sort of overplays him in some ways. He and Emily\u2019s character have this special bond between them and they\u2019re not even aware of it. And the film really is pulling these two characters together. That\u2019s sort of like the drive for these two, even if they\u2019re unaware of it for half the movie. <\/p>\n Daniel has never really computed it and that\u2019s sort of bubbling away underneath Daniel\u2019s character. But he\u2019s sort of an unglamorous hero. He\u2019s your everyday guy and he\u2019s found himself in this situation and he has to adapt and he is able to adapt, but, you know, he\u2019s not a natural Tom Cruise<\/a>.<\/p>\n AP: There\u2019s a lot of secrecy around \u201cDisclosure Day.\u201d Was it like that on your end too?<\/p>\n O\u2019CONNOR: There was, of course, a level of secrecy. When I received the script I was filming \u201cKnives Out\u201d and I was in a hotel and a motorbike turned up with the script, and a motorbike turned up to take away the script the next morning. That\u2019s the first time that\u2019s happened for me. It\u2019s a very strange experience but it makes sense. You know, anytime you hear that Steven\u2019s got a film coming out, everyone, myself included, wants to know what it is, so I totally understand why.<\/p>\n AP: What was the setup for watching it? Did it involve a guy showing up on a motorcycle again?<\/p>\n O\u2019CONNOR: No, actually, not this time. It was just me and Emily and we sat in a screening room. You know, seeing any movie you\u2019re in for the first time is a nightmare. It\u2019s impossible to enjoy it fully because all you\u2019re seeing is like, \u201cWhy do my ears look so big\u201d or \u201cWhy do I stand like that I\u2019m such a freak.\u201d All those things are natural and so there is a little bit of competing with that, but this experience was unlike any other I\u2019ve ever had. Emily and I were just in awe.<\/p>\n AP: You\u2019ve been able to work with such a varied group of filmmakers and in all these different forms in your career. <\/p>\n O\u2019CONNOR: That\u2019s the thing I\u2019m most proud of, I think \u2026 Getting to work with diverse artists and people like Alice (Rohrwacher) and Kelly (Reichardt) and Steven and Rian Johnson. They all work in very different ways and make very different films and tell different stories and ultimately that was my dream. I looked up to people like Gene Wilder,<\/a> or like Robin Williams<\/a> who\u2019s able to make us roar with laughter and then have us in tears. I think that flexibility, that versatility is what I\u2019ve always wanted in my career.<\/p>\n AP: Do you have favorite Spielberg story?<\/p>\n O\u2019CONNOR: I have the greatest, in my opinion, the greatest Steven Spielberg story. When it happened, I was sort of like punching the air for this very reason, knowing that when it comes to doing press for this film, I can tell the story, which is that I was halfway through the shoot and we had a scene coming up, which is quite an emotional scene and I was struggling with it. I was in my hotel room trying to prep it, as Steven does so brilliantly, and it\u2019s extraordinary he\u2019s so available to talk about these things. <\/p>\n I reached out to Steven, we discussed the scene, we talked about the emotion of the scene and how to access that and what we\u2019re ultimately aiming to show in the story. And I felt quite satisfied, but not completely with it. And then I got a text from him quite late at night, just saying ,\u201cThe door is on the latch, just push.\u201d And it made so much sense. I was like, \u201cof course.\u201d The character\u2019s kind of got all this emotion, it\u2019s built up and it\u2019s like a door on the latch and you just push and it all comes out and it\u2019s an emotional release. I was so thrilled with that note and I came in the next day and said, \u201cSteven, you totally unlocked it for me that was amazing.\u201d And he was like, \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n I said, \u201cThe text about \u2018the door on the latch just push\u2019 it\u2019s incredible.\u201d And he laughed and said that that text was supposed to be for his wife. It became a very big joke for all of us. But it did unlock the scene for me, so, fair play.<\/p>\n AP: It\u2019s so good, I almost don\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n O\u2019CONNOR: I know. It\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n