Josh O’Connor Struggled With ‘The Crown’ Fame: ‘It Was a F—ed-Up Time’

The Crown felt like a burden to Josh OConnor after starring in the third and fourth season of Netflixs historical drama series.

In a recent interview with GQ, the actor described the recognition he received following his two-season stint as a young Prince Charles.

It was a fucked-up time, OConnor said. I found it so impactful, people stopping me. You want to be in stuff thats successful and seen, but I think sometimes we underestimate how powerful even a slight loss of anonymity can be.

He added, What I was doing in my career beforeThe Crown I just wanted to carry on doing that.

OConnor first played Prince Charles in the third season of The Crown, and later worked alongside Emma Corrins Princess Diana in Season 4. The Challengers star scored an Emmy and Golden Globe for his performance in the fourth season, as well as two BAFTA nominations for both seasons.

In 2021, OConnor spoke with Variety following his Emmy win for outstanding lead actor in a drama series.

Its been two years of my life, cumulatively, making the show. And then the rest of my life has just been talking about it, he said. Its a strange dynamic; you spend more time talking about your work than you do making it sometimes. And that just shows the success of [The Crown] that people want to hear about it and want to understand the process and the stories. Ive had the best two years ever. But its also exciting, the idea that I can go off and talk about other stuff.

On the horizon, OConnor stars alongside Zendaya and Mike Faist in Luca Guadagninos sports dramedy Challengers, which is set to be released on April 26, 2024.