Harry Styles: No acting experience helped my Dunkirk performance
The pop star said not knowing what he was doing on set was a positive.
Harry Styles said not having a clue what he was doing in his first acting job helped him to give a realistic portrayal of an inexperienced soldier.
The One Direction singer makes his film debut in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, which portrays desperate Second World War evacuation of British troops.
But the pop star said that his lack of acting experience could be seen as a positive as many of the troops at Dunkirk were youths with little time in the military behind them.
“But I kind of went into this with a feeling a bit like I didn’t know what I was doing. I kind of wanted to go in that way.
“The young soldiers also didn’t have any idea what they faced or what they were getting into.
“Any tension I felt personally helped the character.”
Shooting on the beach where the battle took place turned out to be an emotional experience for Styles, who had to perform some of his scenes in the water.
He said: “My first day was the worst weather we had on the shoot and I thought, what am I doing, I want to be back in the studio.
“The long days in the water were definitely the most challenging.
“And being underwater is just on another level, because you obviously can’t breathe.
“But what the film is about and where the film is set didn’t really leave any room for personal discomfort.
“No-one was thinking, oh my leg hurts, or, I’m tired.”
:: Dunkirk was released in cinemas on Friday.
