Angelina Jolie "couldn’t stop smiling" when she was casting Jack O’Connell in ‘Unbroken’.
The 39-year-old star cast the British actor as Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who was tortured in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, and Angelina admits it didn’t take long to decide that Jack, 24, was the right man for the part of the inspirational figure, who died earlier this year at the age of 97.
She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Louis is this extraordinarily witty, charming, full of fire, imperfect man. So casting Louis was such a difficult task [but] such an exciting thing.
"He had to be this person that you felt the audience would root for. Someone who has a very strong spirit and someone who is soulful enough to love and respect Louis to understand the growth of the man.
"So, I met Jack and couldn’t stop smiling through the whole meeting. There was something about the way he carried himself, I knew he was Louis."
Jack, who’s previously starred in ‘This Is England’, said he feels proud to have played such a revered man.
He said: "I just feel completely honoured by the fact I was able to immortalise someone who’s arguably lived three or four lifetimes."
Angelina Jolie says there’s ‘something about’ Jack O’Connell
