Another red-hot star arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, as Harry Styles stopped by for the world premiere of his new drama, “My Policeman.” At a press conference early in the day, Styles said spoke about how he was able to get in the headspace of his character, the closeted policeman Tom.
“I think he’s very curious,” Styles said. “I think he’s someone who is born into a very small world and, if you’re born into that kind of environment, you feel like you know where the edge of the world is. Slowly throughout the story, I think he’s realizing that it is a little further away than Brighton. I think people live entire lives in very small bubbles like that, and if that’s how you’ve been brought up, and everyone around you and generations before you, your parents, etc. have all lived within their kind of small bubble, it’s obviously very difficult to even picture the world outside of that.
“So I think when he meets someone like [his lover] Patrick, who is well-traveled and likes art, he finds himself kind of being curious about those things,” Styles continued. “It’s feeding his curiosity, it’s kind of strange for him to be curious about stuff. And then I think with Marion he also finds ultimately a friend who is the most accepting of him, and I think that’s why, kind of regardless of whichever way you think on their relationship, I think their friendship is incredibly real and loving and tender.”
Styles stars as a gay policeman in the ’50s who is married to a teacher, Marion (Emma Corrin), but also in a relationship with a museum curator named Patrick (David Dawson). Notably, the actors of the film collectively were honored with the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance, the first time an ensemble has been presented with that recognition.
“My Policeman” was directed by Michael Grandage from a script by Ron Nyswaner, based on the novel by Bethan Roberts.
Previously, Styles spoke to Rolling Stone about starring in a gay drama.
“It’s obviously pretty unfathomable now to think, ‘Oh, you couldn’t be gay. That was illegal,’ ” he said. “I think everyone, including myself, has your own journey with figuring out sexuality and getting more comfortable with it. It’s not like ‘This is a gay story about these guys being gay.’ It’s about love and about wasted time to me.”
The film is set to be released in theaters on Oct. 21, and hit Prime Video on Nov. 4.
