Josh O'Connor revealed that preparing for Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day sent him down a deep rabbit hole of alien and UFO research, leading him to repeatedly contact the legendary filmmaker with discoveries he thought were new.

The upcoming sci-fi thriller marks Spielberg's latest return to a subject that has fascinated him throughout much of his career, exploring how humanity might react if confronted with undeniable evidence that it is not alone in the universe. The film's themes draw from decades of public curiosity surrounding extraterrestrial life, government secrecy, and unexplained aerial phenomena, topics that have increasingly re-entered mainstream conversation in recent years.

As O'Connor's curiosity grew, he found himself repeatedly trying to surprise Spielberg with new information, only to learn that the filmmaker was already several steps ahead.

Speaking about his preparation for Disclosure Day, Josh O'Connor admitted that researching the film's themes led him into an unexpected obsession with UFO-related material.

"And so it's interesting because from my perspective unless you take an active interest in it, information is always there. We don't want to look or hear [it], when you do engage with it it's crazy," O'Connor shared with DiscussingFilm. He continued how Steven Spielberg's knowledge of the subject proved far more extensive than he anticipated. 

As he continued digging deeper, O'Connor frequently shared his latest discoveries with Spielberg, only to discover that the director was already well acquainted with much of the material.

“I was calling Steven up being like, ‘Check this out, did you know that this happened in 2009!?’, and he would be like, ‘Yes Josh, I already knew that,’” he said.

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The experience ultimately gave him an even greater appreciation for the depth of research and curiosity Spielberg had brought to the project long before production began.

While Josh O'Connor expected Steven Spielberg to possess extensive knowledge of the film's subject matter, he admitted in a conversation with Filmfare that another aspect of the filmmaker surprised him even more: his working style.

"What surprised me the most about Steven Spielberg was how playful he is," O'Connor said. He continued to describe Spielberg as both a "technical magician" and an unexpectedly spontaneous collaborator. Rather than approaching scenes with rigid plans, the actor said Spielberg often remained open to inspiration from the set and conversations with performers.

The actor went on to praise Spielberg's focus on performance, explaining that the director creates an environment where actors can contribute creatively to the storytelling process. According to O'Connor, that collaborative atmosphere made the experience feel surprisingly similar to working on a much smaller independent film despite the blockbuster scale of the production.

Disclosure Day stars O'Connor alongside Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, and Wyatt Russell. The film arrives in theaters on June 12, with Spielberg returning to the extraterrestrial mysteries that have been woven through his career for nearly five decades and helped shape the modern alien genre as audiences know it today.

Do you think Steven Spielberg's long fascination with extraterrestrial stories is one of the reasons audiences remain excited for Disclosure Day? Let us know in the comments.