Steven Spielberg has praised actress, Eve Hewson, describing her as "extraordinary".
This comes as Hewson stars in the Spielberg directed, Disclosure Day, alongside Josh O'Connor. In the film, Hewson plays a former nun, Jane, whose partner Daniel, played by O'Connor, becomes a whistle-blower aiming to expose decades of secrets regarding extra-terrestrial encounters.
Speaking about Hewson, Steven Spielberg revealed that it was her performance as the youngest Garvey in Bad Sisters which convinced him that she was the perfect candidate for Disclosure Day.
"She’s wonderful. I had previously worked with Eve Hewson on Bridge of Spies (2015), she played Tom Hanks’ daughter", Spielberg said. "But I thought of her because I was a big fan of Bad Sisters. I thought she did extraordinary work in that. So, she got the part pretty quickly".
Spielberg's sentiments were echoed by Hewson's co star, Josh O'Connor who called her an "extraordinary actor" and "so fun to work with".
"She’s also a brilliant friend and very supportive", he added. "I’m quite an anxious person and when I was feeling anxious, she would really lift me up. She’s terrific".
O'Connor went on to recall him and Hewson being referred to as "the kids" on set by Spielberg.
"I called Colin Firth a kid too", Spielberg quipped.
A key theme to Disclosure Day is faith, with Hewson's character left pondering how knowledge of alien life would impact people's beliefs, with Josh O'Connor revealing that working on this film has changed his own feelings on this.
"I’m someone who is interested in faith generally and fascinated by mystery. I had a conflict early on around my feelings about things. I really believe in mystery, and I feel as though we’re losing a sense of mystery in modern life," O'Connor said. "Part of me likes the speculation of what’s out there and I sort of don’t want to know. Steven addresses that, too, in the film.
"Little by little as we went through the film I’ve come to the conclusion that I would like to know, in no small part for the people who have had close encounters and have witnessed these experiences and have been discredited or gaslit", he added.
While this was a huge pull factor to work on the project, O'Connor stated that the main draw was getting to work with Spielberg.
"It really is the dream for any actor. It’s beyond the dream," he said of Spielberg.
Disclosure Day will hit cinema screens this Wednesday (June 10).
