None of the drama that followed Harry Styles last week during the Venice Film Festival —namely, did he or did he not spit on his Don’t Worry Darling co-star Chris Pine— trailed the pop star into Toronto for the world premiere of his upcoming drama, My Policeman.
At a TIFF press conference for the film (which hits Prime Video in November), the former One Direction singer spoke eloquently about how playing a closeted policeman taught him the importance of time.
“For me, the reason why the story is so devastating is because ultimately to me, the whole story is about wasted time, and I think wasted time is the most devastating thing,” Styles told journalists following a screening Sunday.
“Because it’s the one thing we cannot control. It’s the one thing you can’t have back. And the one thing that I think matters — whatever kind of life you’ve lived — at the end when you think back on time with people you love — that is the one thing none of us can control.”
The decades-spanning love story centres on a closeted policeman named Tom (Styles) who falls for Patrick, a museum curator (David Dawson). Tom represses his true feelings going on to date and later marry a schoolteacher (Emma Corrin). The film flips back and forth between the ’50s and ’90s, where the trio (played by Linus Roache, Rupert Everett and Gina McKee, respectively) have to deal with the regret of the decisions they made not to act on their real emotions 40 years earlier.
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“The whole story being about this wasted time and getting to the end … feels like this brief moment of acceptance, which feels wonderful. But it’s still laced with this devastating (feeling of), ‘Oh, if we were just braver. We wasted so much time,'” Styles added.
“He accepts that he’s going to deny this part of himself for a really long time,” Styles continued describing his character’s tragic narrative arc.
“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,” he said. “Slowly he learns that’s a little further away. People live entire lives in small bubbles like that and that’s how you’ve been brought up, it’s difficult to picture the world outside of that. So I think when he meets someone like [his lover] Patrick, who is well-travelled and likes art, he finds himself kind of being curious about those things. It’s feeding his curiosity.”
Styles, who along with his castmates was feted with the TIFF Tribute Award for their ensemble performance, said that other themes that are woven through director Michael Grandage’s film are “love and freedom and the search for that.”
“It’s based in two different time settings, but I think the general themes are incredibly timeless — it’s why the film works so well,” he said. “The themes of love and freedom and the search for that is incredibly relevant whatever time you’re living in. But I think people are able to see a part of themselves in each of the characters. The most beautiful thing about the story is that all of the characters have some really nice qualities, and they also have some flaws that we might hope not to have. But, as humans, we all have them.
“I think, at different points in the story, you’re able to see bits of yourself and sometimes maybe not your favourite parts of yourself in different characters.”
My Policeman is set to be released in select theatres on Oct. 21, before hitting Prime Video on Nov. 4.
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