My Policeman director Michael Grandage understands some people are going to see his movie just because Harry Styles is in it — and he is looking forward to that.
Speaking with Billboard, Grandage opened up about his thoughts on Harry’s fans flocking to theaters to see the film, which is set in 1950s England when homosexuality was prohibited. Harry stars as Tom, a closeted police officer engaging in an affair with a museum curator named Patrick, played by David Dawson.
Speaking of “the single most important and positive thing that might come out of this entire endeavor,” Grandage said the film will expose Harry’s “massive” fan base “to a story that shows something that they may not know.”
“I’m not going to suggest for the second that a lot of them will know a bit about political gay history of the past, but a fair amount of them, it’s worth assuming, probably don’t know anything about what it was like in 1957 England,” he continued.
Grandage, who is gay, says he has “great confidence” in the younger generation because he says they are “the first seriously unprejudiced generation I’ve been aware of.”
Noting the “forward-thinking people” within that group, the director expressed the underlying importance of exposing them to the uncomfortable truths of queer history.
“If that amount of people with that amount of belief system see that this is the place we could return to, then for me, they may be part of a debate that makes sure that doesn’t happen,” said Grandage. “And for that reason alone, My Policeman becomes a very significant part of the story.”
My Policeman, also starring The Crown‘s Emma Corrin, debuts in theaters on October 21 and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on November 4.
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