Harry Styles Addresses ‘Queerbaiting’ Accusations, Playing a Gay Character in ‘My Policeman’ and Fans Slamming Olivia Wilde
variety.comWilliam Earl In a sprawling new Rolling Stone interview, Harry Styles takes time to address several issues on the minds of his fans, which involve his personal life and how it impacts his art.Styles discussed his new role in the upcoming film “My Policeman,” a romantic period piece set in the ’50s, when it was illegal to be in a same-sex relationship in the U.K.
Although he has been in a high-profile relationship with actor and director Olivia Wilde since 2021, Styles spoke about starring in a gay drama.“It’s obviously pretty unfathomable now to think, ‘Oh, you couldn’t be gay.
That was illegal,’ ” he said. “I think everyone, including myself, has your own journey with figuring out sexuality and getting more comfortable with it.
It’s not like ‘This is a gay story about these guys being gay.’ It’s about love and about wasted time to me.” Styles also broke down the vision for the sex scenes.“So much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the tenderness from it,” he said. “There will be, I would imagine, some people who watch it who were very much alive during this time when it was illegal to be gay, and [director Michael Grandage] wanted to show that it’s tender and loving and sensitive.”Despite taking on the role, Styles also disputed allegations of “queerbating,” or subtlety marketing himself as being LGBTQ without actually identifying as a member of that community.“Sometimes people say, ‘You’ve only publicly been with women,’ and I don’t think I’ve publicly been with anyone,” he said.
