'Dunkirk' Cast: Christopher Nolan Picked Harry Styles for His Potential Not Popularity
"Dunkirk" director Christopher Nolan was not aware of how popular Harry Styles was when he cast the One Direction star in his war film. Though the 23-year-old musician has a relatively minor role, Nolan nonetheless picked Styles because he saw his potential.
Nolan said his young daughters would talk about Styles around the house but he had no idea that One Direction had a big following.
"The truth is, I cast Harry because he fit the part wonderfully and truly earned a seat at the table," the director disclosed to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Nolan also said in a separate interview with Entertainment Tonight that casting Styles was much like when he picked out Heath Ledger as Joker for "The Dark Knight" in 2008.
"It raised a lot of eyebrows and caused a lot of comment," Nolan said. "[But] I have to trust my instincts and Harry was perfect for this part."
The director, however, won't reveal what exactly Styles' role is on "Dunkirk" or how long the One Direction star's screen time is. What's certain is that Styles is one of the soldiers, Alex, who is fighting to stay alive in the World War II movie. It is his first movie role in his first feature-length film.
One of his co-stars who had a bigger role in "Dunkirk" expressed his exasperation over the attention Styles' casting has received. Fionn Whitehead, who plays one of the more important characters in the movie, Tommy, said the fan reactions have been over the top.
"The meaning has got lost somewhere along the way and people have stopped realizing there's an amazing cast — including Harry — but there's, you know, the creme de la creme of actors," he said.
Whitehead doesn't blame Styles for getting all the attention and he even complimented the young star's performance. The actor blames media for blowing up Styles' casting, though.
"They have put too much emphasis on this one guy instead of the piece as a whole and the ensemble as a whole," he stated.
"Dunkirk" will arrive in theaters on Friday, July 21. The film also stars Tom Hardy as Farrier, Mark Rylance as Dawcett, James D'Arcy as Captain Winnant and Kenneth Branagh as Commander Bolton.
