British actor Jack O’Connell wows Toronto film fest … and Angelina Jolie

TORONTO – Jack O’Connell may be about to embark on a project with Angelina Jolie, but the British actor’s main concern at the moment is getting the word out about his brutal prison drama “Starred Up.”

“I just want the film to do well … I think it (deserves) success. I like to focus on job by job, and thankfully I’m not a complete novice anymore,” the modest 23-year-old said this week during an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Novice, indeed.

O’Connell is receiving raves for his breakout performance as Eric, a troubled teen who is moved to an adult jail (or “starred up,” in prison lingo) only to learn that his father is in the same facility.

The film has already caught the attention of Jolie, who’s tapped O’Connell to star in her upcoming directorial project “Unbroken,” about long-distance runner and Second World War hero Louis Zamperini.

In “Starred Up,” O’Connell is unforgettable as Eric, who bloodies fellow prisoners at the drop of a hat and is stubbornly reluctant to accept the help of a counsellor played by Rupert Friend.

The film opens with a remarkable sequence in which the new inmate is stripped and searched. Director David Mackenzie says landing permission to shoot at a former prison in Belfast was key to achieving the claustrophobic feel of “Starred Up.”

“The weight of the location, the stone, the metal, just the atmosphere was just everywhere around us. It unified us. We all went on the same journey together because of that location. We inhabited it.”

The film is filled with simmering tension, punctuated by violence. Mackenzie said he let O’Connell “go as far as he possibly could,” encouraging all of his actors to let scenes unfold organically.

“In all of my films I’m trying to create an environment where possibilities are open to allow the material to come to life within the moment. So … we have a script, but also we have room to watch what happens when all these ingredients come together,” he said.

“And I like to be open to the idea of things springing out of that.”

“Starred Up” has already screened at the Telluride Film Festival, where some critics complained they had trouble understanding the prison slang and thick accents.

But Mackenzie said the dialogue in the script by Jonathan Asser — himself a former prison counsellor — was part of what attracted him to the project in the first place.

“When I first read the script I didn’t understand half of it and I was drawn to it almost for that reason,” he said. “It’s like reading ‘Clockwork Orange.’ It’s my country’s language, but it’s a version of it that I don’t follow.”

For his part, O’Connell says he had an “instinctive understanding” of the film’s world because he comes from a “not particularly privileged background.”

And although he’s flattered by the festival kudos, he says he just wants to continue to give good performances.

Said the humble actor: “I’m looking forward to (going into) my next role with a bit more experience. … I just want to work and be successful at it and hopefully have people appreciate my work.”

The Toronto International Film Festival runs through Sunday.