Josh O’Connor is following up his acclaimed turn in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers with the timely drama Rebuilding, which is already off to a rave start at 2025’s Sundance Film Festival. O’Connor found himself drawn to working on the film out of a combination of looking to continue exploring a variety of genres on screen, also evidenced by his upcoming turns in Rian Johnson’s Wake Up ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Man: A Knives Out Mystery and Steven Spielberg’s mystery UFO movie, and his excitement of getting to work with writer/director Max Walker-Silverman.

O’Connor stars in Rebuilding as Dusty, a rancher in the American West whose life is thrown into upheaval when a series of wildfires destroys his ranch and leads to him living in a FEMA camp. As he begins growing close with others living in the camp, including his daughter and his ex-wife, Dusty will begin to realize there may be a way to keep hope alive for him and his newfound community. Alongside O’Connor, the ensemble Rebuilding cast includes Drop‘s Meghann Fahy, True Detective: Night Country‘s Kali Reis, Lily LaTorre, Oscar nominee Amy Madigan and Jefferson Mays.

In honor of the movie’s Sundance Film Festival premiere, ScreenRant interviewed Max Walker-Silverman, Josh O’Connor, Meghann Fahy, Kali Reis and Lily LaTorre to discuss Rebuilding. The group of actors reflected on what it was about Walker-Silverman’s script and story that drew them to want to star in the film, with LaTorre also sharing an early glowing review of the film, and Reis also sharing a disappointing update on Wind River: The Next Chapter. Walker-Silverman, meanwhile, explained how he pulled from both his imagination and personal experience to write the film and why O’Connor was the perfect lead star.

O’Connor Has A Few Requirements When Taking On New Roles

“I actually don’t overthink it is the truth.”

Though having been in the acting game for a little over a decade, namely with roles in Doctor Who and Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella remake, the past few years have seen O’Connor quickly becoming a household name thanks to his acclaimed turns in The Crown, which earned him both an Emmy and Golden Globe win, and Guadagnino’s Challengers. When it comes to deciding future projects like Rebuilding, O’Connor states that while he doesn’t “overthink it” and is “extremely lucky” to keep working, there are a few things he looks for when presented with new opportunities:

Josh O’Connor: That’s a good question. I actually don’t overthink it is the truth. I think, first of all, I’m extremely lucky to get to work as an actor. I always feel very grateful for that. And then, script is always a big aspect of it. There are certain directors, like Rian or Max, who I’m really excited to work with. II think variation is the key. All the actors that I aspire to kind of [emulate], you know what their next move is, and stretch themselves. I like to find myself playing someone who I’m like, “God, I have no clue what I’m doing”, and that’s always terrifying and exciting. So, yeah, I guess variation is the one for me.

Reis Found Walker-Silverman’s Directorial Approach To Be One Of “Peace & Groundedness”

She Also Hasn’t Heard Any Updates On Wind River: The Next Chapter

Similar to O’Connor, the past few years have been some of the most successful for Reis, as she’s transitioned from her boxing career to acting, co-developing the story and starring in the acclaimed drama Catch the Fair One, as well as co-leading True Detective: Night Country. When it came to being approached for Rebuilding, she immediately pointed to both Walker-Silverman’s script and her character as being the biggest points of interest, particularly as she found the latter to be something “way different than anything I’ve experienced“, and praised the writer/director for creating an environment of true collaboration:

Kali Reis: What was really intriguing at first was just the script. Max created such a beautiful script from personal experience, and you could tell initially from his writing that he really constructed something beautiful. But it wasn’t even just the script, it was just the subject matter that he was focusing on. Not just the tragedy of these wildfires, but what happens after. It was a really beautiful way he explored it, and it was just really attractive to me. And Mila was just such a very interesting part of this story. She had so many layers that I could build on, and I love building on a character. Max was very open to having a conversation about who she was. He let me run with it, which is awesome.

His approach was way different. I’ve worked with a few directors, not too many as of yet, hopefully many in the future. But his approach, he just created this atmosphere of such peace and groundedness and just very gentle. It’s very gentle in a way that really works for him. And even the character that I had was way different than anything I’ve experienced. So, the fact that his approach was different, and my character was a bit of a challenge for me, something I’d never done before, which I jumped on, because I love a challenge. He just created an atmosphere that I will always remember and take me back to that calm and that peace and that grounding with this character.

Looking beyond the film, which has already racked up a 94% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, Reis was asked for an update on Wind River: The Next Chapter, a movie in an unclear state of limbo, particularly after returning star Gil Birmingham’s recent comments. Unfortunately, Reis is just as in the dark on the sequel as general audiences, though remained eager for when the film would finally move ahead for release:

Kali Reis: You know just as much as I do, unfortunately. I am really excited about Wind River 2, as well. So just keep your eye out for it, and I can’t wait to share it with the world.

Fahy Found Walker-Silverman To Be A “Deeply Genuine” Filmmaker

She Also Praised The Filmmaker For Unlocking Self-Trust

Fahy came into Rebuilding fresh off of her own Emmy nomination for her performance as Daphne in The White Lotus season 2, while having also previously worked with a wide range of directors, some of whom include Caroline Lindy’s Your Monster and Drop‘s Christopher Landon. When it came to working with Walker-Silverman, the star praised the writer/director for unlocking self-trust in herself during shooting, and being a “deeply genuine” filmmaker:

Meghann Fahy: That’s an amazing question. I think what’s so special about Max is that he’s so deeply genuine, and he never places an expectation on an actor. He sort of is just there with them, and I think if there’s one thing I would say that I could take away from that experience with him, it would just be to sort of trust myself, which is a really, really beautiful thing for him to have sort of sprinkled on me.

LaTorre Hopes Audiences Take Away The Message Of Hope “Even In The Toughest Of Times”

“It was such a beautiful film…”

Rebuilding‘s Sundance premiere comes with an unfortunate timing as it coincides with the ongoing wildfire crisis in Los Angeles. LaTorre, who stars in the film as Dusty’s young daughter Callie Rose, certainly recognizes this timing and expresses her hopes for audiences to take away its message of hope “even in the toughest of times“, while also praising her experience working with Walker-Silverman on the “beautiful film“:

Lily LaTorre: I got to see it back home. Max sent me a small preview of it, but not the whole movie. It was such a beautiful film, and so nice and slow, but perfectly slow, like, it’s perfectly paced. I don’t think I learned many lessons [from Max], not that I can remember, but he was just so lovely to work with, so kind. Always making sure that I was in the right costumes, always making sure that I was okay before getting anything else ready. One of the messages from the movie is hope can be found, even in the toughest of times. So yeah, I really hope that people take that away with the LA fires.

Rebuilding Is Meant To Be A Mix Of Walker-Silverman’s Imagination & Personal Experience

“…fiction is a powerful thing…”

In reflecting on the concept behind the film, Walker-Silverman recalled that Rebuilding came from both a point of imagination and his own personal experience of having revisited where he was raised in Colorado. When it came to putting that on the page, the writer/director acknowledged he loves fiction as much as he does writing about reality, and that the movie isn’t as much “about my own experiences” as those around him:

Max Walker-Silverman: I don’t know, it’s all such a mix. I write for places I know very well, and people I know very well, and ways of life that are very familiar and very dear to me, and landscapes that I’ve lived my life in. But I also love fiction, and every character is designed to be invented and discovered by whoever’s playing it. And while there’s a lot of myself and my own questions in the movie, it’s not necessarily about my own experiences. My hope is that, you know, fiction is a powerful thing, and there’s a lot to be discovered in imagination and pretend and play, and there’s a lot of hope and beauty in that that reality doesn’t always provide.

Expounding on his note about writing for people he knows “very well“, Walker-Silverman was asked about landing on O’Connor to star in the lead role as an American cowboy. The writer/director humorously admitted the character and story are “very close to a very specific part of the world and country where I’m from and Josh isn’t“, but as he had conversations with his star and opened himself up to the idea it could be a more universal role, he found himself further believing “this is the guy“:

Max Walker-Silverman: Yeah, it was interesting, because it’s a very regional story, and very close to a very specific part of the world and country where I’m from and Josh isn’t. But, in trying to imagine who could play this character, it provoked these really interesting questions to me, of like, what is real really like? Is it a pᴀssport? Is it a dialect, or is it some bigger, weirder thing? Is it some spirit, some soul, some kind of mystical thing that people share?

And I just shared something with Josh, and the way we looked at the world was the same, and his questions and mine were the same, and his sense of land and legacy all just rang so true to me. And despite the oceans apart we were, I was like, “Man, I don’t know, I think, somehow, this is the guy.” And I’m so glad that he was, and what a pleasure to work with him. Just as sweet and talented a man as there is.

Check out more Sundance 2025 interview coverage here, including:

• John Lithgow & the Jimpa Cast & Director
• Paradise Man Director Jordan Michael Blake
• Dylan O’Brien & the Twinless Cast & Director
• Brides Director & Stars
• Bubble & Squeak Director & Stars
• If I Had Legs I’d Kick You Director & Stars
• The Wedding Banquet Director & Stars
• Logan Lerman, Molly Gordon & the Oh, Hi! Cast

Source: ScreenRant Plus