Actor David Dawson of the homosexual romance movie “My Policeman” claimed to have met a “kindred” spirit in co-star Harry Styles. They made a pact to watch out for one another on set.
The dynamics of three characters—Tom Burgess (played by Harry Styles), the title policeman struggling with his repressed sexuality, Marion Taylor (Emma Corrin), a schoolteacher, and Patrick Hazlewood (Dawson)—are at the center of the Michael Grandage-directed movie, which is based on a book of the same name written by Bethan Roberts.
In a period when homosexuality wasn’t accepted, Styles’ character tries to balance his conflicting emotions for Patrick and their secret passion with his marriage to Marion.
The 1950s and the 1990s are alternated throughout the film to highlight how the trio is still coming to terms with what happened to them decades earlier.
Because the movie was being shot during the epidemic, Dawson told Insider that he first met Styles and Corrin through Zoom. The three of them first met in person while recording a song for their characters to cheerfully sing at a brighter scene in the movie.
That served as our opener, but more importantly, it helped him get over whatever social anxiety he may have had.
The three actors worked in pairs throughout the three-week shooting rehearsal session, and according to Dawson, one actor “would not be party to those chats, which I felt was extremely effective when you went through to filming this tale.”
In the process of creating this, I really enjoyed that, he continued. The three of us were able to interact and develop chemistry in the amazing, trusting space that Michael afterwards established.
In “My Policeman,” a lot of Dawson’s sequences take place between Patrick and Tom as Styles’ character experiments with his sexuality. One of the “most unique elements of this process,” according to Dawson, was collaborating on the movie with intimacy coordinator Ben Wright.
As a team, Dawson said, “we all got together and spoke about what we wanted these sequences to be.” Then, on top of that, Harry and I made a pledge to be in touch with one another at all times throughout this process when we parted ways.
You always felt at ease since there was mutual trust and constant communication, he said. It was pretty distinctive in that regard.
Styles is a Grammy-winning artist who first gained notoriety as a member of the British-Irish band One Direction, although he is a relative newcomer to acting. Styles’ only filmography prior to “My Policeman” production consisted of Christopher Nolan’s 2017 war drama “Dunkirk.”
Although Dawson said he had “no clue” what lessons Styles could have picked up from working with a more seasoned actor, the two struck up a friendship.
He described his ongoing need for knowledge as “the one thing I admire about him, because I know it’s something that I always want to do.” “Therefore, it’s something that I definitely felt a connection to. He clearly cared as much as I did about the job we were doing, which I absolutely enjoyed.”
Prior to the movie’s international debut at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September, Dawson said he had never walked on a red carpet. He stated he would always remember the experience.
I found it really poignant, he added, “to go out onto that carpet and realize that so many people had come to support Harry and to support the film.”
Dawson believes that despite the fact that LGBTQ rights have advanced significantly since the 1950s, “it’s necessary to always learn from things that have occurred in our history in order for us to completely be able to go ahead and continue to improve.”
Dawson said that being a part of “My Policeman” helped him to become more appreciative of the advancements achieved over the years.
It certainly gave me a deeper understanding of what had been fought for and what had been accomplished over the years in Britain for my generation to enjoy the freedoms and the privileges that we have, he added. The opportunity to have it makes me feel tremendously thankful.