Well before he starred in Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” Harry Styles was already known as one of the biggest pop stars in the world. However, thanks to his performance in that film (and his starpower, obviously), Hollywood came calling. Now, after a brief appearance in Marvel Studios’ “Eternals,” Styles is preparing for the release of two films where he’s one of the leads, “My Policeman” and “Don’t Worry Darling.” But Styles isn’t sure acting is really in his future moving forward.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Harry Styles talked about his acting career, so far, and hinted that it might be coming to a premature end. At least for the foreseeable future. Obviously, it’s his music that is his first passion. He even joked that his cameo as Starfox at the end of “Eternals” could be his only appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“It’d be funny if that was it, wouldn’t it?” Styles said.
However, in a more detailed explanation, the performer just isn’t sure if he’s ready to commit to more feature film projects in the future.
“I don’t imagine I’d do a movie for a while,” he said. “I think there’ll be a time again when I’ll crave it. But when you’re making music, something’s happening. It feels really creative, and it feeds stuff. A large part of acting is the doing-nothing, waiting thing. Which if that’s the worst part, then it’s a pretty good job. But I don’t find that section of it to be that fulfilling. I like doing it in the moment, but I don’t think I’ll do it a lot.”
But what about the rumor mill saying that there is a “Star Wars” role in the future? “That’s the first I’ve heard of that. I’d imagine … false,” Styles replied.
This reluctance to become a major movie star doesn’t have anything to do with his performances in the films he has coming up. In fact, “Don’t Worry Darling” director Olivia Wilde has nothing but praise for Styles. (Yes, maybe she’s a bit biased because it’s her film and she’s currently dating Styles.) In a specific scene in the upcoming film, Wilde said that Styles “left us in tears.”
“It’s a strange scene, full of fascist references, and a disturbing amount of male rage,” she added. “The scene called for him to stand onstage with Frank (Chris Pine) and chant their creepy slogan, ‘Who’s world is it? Ours!’ over and over again. Dark as hell. But Harry took it to another level. He was so fully in the moment, he began screaming the lines to the crowd, in this primal roar, that was way more intense than anything we expected from the scene.”
Wilde continued, “The camera operator followed him as he paced around the stage like a kind of wild animal. We were all gobsmacked at the monitor. I think even Harry was surprised by it. Those are the best moments for an actor — when you’re completely outside your body.”
Will Harry Styles’ upcoming films live up to the hype? Will film fans be sad to see him return to the world of music? We’ll find out when “My Policeman” and “Don’t Worry Darling” are released later this year.