Star Josh O'Connor, who's in the new movie Challengers, has a fear that could potentially come true.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the publications asked him what he thinks about going on a press tour and possibly being catapulted to superstardom.

“Now that's a dreadful thought,” he said. “It's not a popular, attractive thing to say, but as you know, that doesn't fill me with excitement. I understand the structure of an actor is that the more you're known, the more likely you are going to be seen by X director or X director. If we look at acting as a business, it's a good thing. But I don't look at acting as a business. So to me, it's just a very vulnerable space to be in.”

In Challengers, O'Connor portrays Patrick, a role he is new to and not used to playing.

“Patrick might be, in some ways, the hardest challenge I've taken on,” he said. “Because his qualities are qualities that I don't necessarily recognize in myself — his bombastic, front-footed nature. Outwardly, he's so sure of himself and so comfortable with himself. I was resistant to that [at] first.”

About Challengers

The film focuses on sports relationships and much more. MGM says, “Challengers stars Zendata as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist — West Side Story), Tashi's strategy for her husband's redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (O'Connor) — his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.”

While O'Connor was filming Challengers, he was also working on another movie, La Chimera, by writer-director Alice Rohrwacher. In the film, he plays tomb raider Arthur, who searches for his missing love and treasures.

About getting the part, the actor said it “felt like an act of destiny.” He added, “I know how ridiculous that sounds, but I truly felt like it had been written for me. It was someone who didn't know where they existed. They were sort of torn between this life and people they left behind in another life, dealing with spirituality and home and friendship and love and all those questions. Arthur felt like everything that I wanted to explore in myself.”

It was quite a drastic change going from Arthur to Patrick.

“I was living in my camper van washing myself in a lake in Italy, and then, a week later, I was in this beautiful apartment about the Four Seasons in Boston, playing tennis,” he said. “I love the duality of that. But it took a big strain on me.”

Be sure to watch Josh O'Connor in Challengers, which is now in theaters everywhere.