Jack O’Connell’s Character in ’28 Years Later 2′ Inspired by British TV Star!

Released on June 18, the highly anticipated sequel to Danny Boyle’s 2002 classic, “28 Years Later,” ended with a scene that left many viewers baffled.

WARNING: This paragraph contains spoilers about the ending of the first “28 Years Later.”

In the film’s final moments, the young Spike is ambushed by infected individuals before being rescued by a group known as “the Jimmies,” led by Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). Dressed in a tracksuit, sporting long blond hair, and a large gold cross around his neck, this character becomes central in the new installment, “28 Years Later: The Temple of the Dead.”

Upon the release of the first film, British media quickly pointed out the striking similarity between Jimmy Crystal and Jimmy Savile, a once hugely popular TV presenter and DJ in the United Kingdom, celebrated during his lifetime before being posthumously accused in 2011 of hundreds of sexual assaults.

This resemblance was intentionally crafted by screenwriter Alex Garland and director-producer Danny Boyle.

More Than Just a Physical Resemblance

In “The Temple of the Dead,” it’s clear that the parallel between Jimmy Crystal and Savile goes beyond mere appearance. Jack O’Connell even describes his character as “a real jerk.” He further elaborated in an interview with GQ: “I’m still figuring out how to best describe him. But it’s thrilling to play, that’s for sure. He definitely belongs to the dark side, unlike any character I’ve played before.”

In “The Temple of the Dead,” we learn that Sir Jimmy Crystal is a satanic cult leader. Boyle himself confirmed in an interview with Business Insider that the character, both aesthetically and culturally, draws heavily from Jimmy Savile.

The filmmaker explains that Crystal is designed as a distorted memory of British pop culture: “He is tied as much to pop culture as to sports tracksuits, cricket, the honors system… all twisting in this partial memory, clinging to things and then recreating them as an image for followers.”

Thus, Boyle and Garland’s aim is not just to provoke but to question how societies remember—or forget—certain figures from the past, and how they can turn icons into myths to follow, even when these figures are based on fragmented or idealized memories.

Alex Garland emphasizes this central theme by pointing out that “28 Years Later” deals with selective memory and historical forgetting: “Looking back, it’s shocking how selective memory can be… it forgets and, importantly, it also gets things wrong. We live in an era dominated by a poorly remembered past.”

Who Was Jimmy Savile?

Jimmy Savile (1926-2011) was a dominant television personality in Britain for decades: a DJ, host of the iconic show “Top of the Pops,” presenter of “Jim’ll Fix It,” and a noted figure in charity fundraising. He was even knighted in 1990 for his philanthropic work. A self-professed eccentric, he cultivated a highly recognizable image with tracksuits, flashy jewelry, catchy phrases, and constant media presence.

However, after his death, a flood of revelations radically altered public perception of Savile. Hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse emerged, mostly involving minors. Posthumous police investigations concluded he was a sexual predator. Although rumors had circulated during his lifetime, they had been largely ignored or suppressed. The scandal deeply shook the BBC and other institutions that had long celebrated him, revealing significant failures in heeding warnings.

A documentary detailing these events, titled “Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story,” was released in 2022.

Memories Dating Back to 2002, Before Savile’s Downfall

It’s important to note that, in the timeline of the saga, the outbreak of the Rage Virus occurs in 2002, before Savile’s crimes became public knowledge in our world. In the fictional universe, Savile may never have been discredited and could have remained an admired, even mythologized figure.

Jimmy Crystal, who was just a child when the virus emerged, drew on fragmented memories of that era. In the first film, he watches the Teletubbies, a BBC show, at the moment the infected attack his family. Savile, a prominent figure on the channel at that time, could also have influenced the construction of his imaginary world.

Thus, the young Jimmy created a character and founded his group based on these childhood references. Similarly, in his clearly disturbed mind, his father—a village priest—became the voice of evil.

“28 Years Later: The Temple of the Dead” is currently showing in theaters.

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