Actor Josh O’Connor, fresh off his Emmy win for The Crown earlier this year, has announced his next project: a gay World War I drama titled The History of Sound.
O’Connor joins actor Paul Mescal (Normal People) in the film, based on a short story by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ben Shattuck. Oliver Hermanus, who directed the gay drama Moffie earlier this year, will helm the project.
Variety reports that “the story follows two young men, Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor), who, during the WW1 period, set out to record the lives, voices, and music of their countrymen.” Along the way, the two fall madly in love.
Related: What happened to the gay sex scenes in ‘God’s Own Country’?!
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“Paul and Josh are two of the most promising actors of their generation who will share with us deeply soulful performances,” director Hermanus said of the casting. “This is an unexpected love story that needs to be told — it is a journey through the life of America, across the 20th century and the traditions of American folk music, all seen through the bond between two men immersed in the history of sound. This undeniably powerful story will certainly resonate with audiences the world over.”
For O’Connor, work on The History of Sound represents a return to his roots. The actor first rose to stardom in the queer indie romance God’s Own Country in 2017, a film critics cited as the British answer to Brokeback Mountain. Since then, he’s gone on to nab roles in Emma and the TV miniseries Les Misérables. He also starred as Prince Charles in Season 4 of The Crown, for which he won an Emmy.
Cameras roll on The History of Sound in Summer 2022.
Charlie in Charge
Loved God’s Own Country and looking forward to this.
marclaw
This will be like his 5th or sixth gay role. Good for him.
jayceecook
LOL, I thought the same thing.
Donston
Seems like classic awards bait: period piece, a war in the background, sad gay romance, starring two “straight presenting” actors. Can’t say I get hyped for these types of movies any longer, but I’ll probably see it eventually if the reviews are good. And Josh is a talented, handsome actor.
man5996853
I don’t even like the comparison to Brokeback Mountain because God’s Own Country was superior in nearly every way.
Donston
I do agree. It’s the overall better, more challenging, more insightful film. That’s partly because it actually felt about their relationship rather than mostly being about what keeps them separated.
Goosecurls
I’ll wait until the film is out to give my opinion on it. If the reviews are good or not, I’ll still watch it. I tend to go to a theater or stream to watch gay themed movies. My logic is that Hollywood only understand dollars, and streaming services have all those algorithms.
Still I see problems already. The source material was written by a straight man. He’s engaged to the actress Jenny Slate. I found the story online. I’ll read it at some time to see how good it is.
Is there no American actors who could play the parts?
I too am tired of “sad homosexual” story lines. And they don’t even have to be set in the past. I watched one short, “Meet Up”. The press on it is: “A lonely gay man, intrigued by the duo of marijuana and a good time, gives a handsome stranger a ride home with no idea of what will happen overnight.” The evidence used to describe him as “lonely” is that he’s waiting on some guy who he connected with via one of those hook up to get down apps.
Plus, in the past, we know of plenty of homosexuals who actually led happy and full lives. But, happiness does not make for a great conflict in a story.
Jack
Very anxious to see Paul Mescal in a new project. Both are very talented actors. I am sure there will be lots of guff about two straight actors in such high profile gay roles. I just don’t have a huge issue with it. They deserve the roles and will be amazing (assuming the script is amazing).
Ryan Field
Yup no one plays gay better than straight actors.
Cam
God’s Own Country surprised me. Great movie. I’ll definitely check this out.
HankHarris
Enough of the ‘God’s Own Country’ is superior to ‘Brokeback Mountain’ is superior to ‘Moonlight’ is superior to ‘Call Me By Your Name’ – we have such few well-made ‘gay’ movies that we shouldn’t need to compare them all and try to diminish the others.
Donston
Folks are allowed to say what they like and what they don’t. No one is obligated to praise something because it’s “gay”.
Brokeback Mountain was groundbreaking and solid enough. But even in 2005 I thought it very safe and more designed to appeal to “straight” people and “queers” obsessed with “straight-presenting”/hetero-leaning dudes. About 70% of it is focused on hetero dynamics. And only about ten minutes of it involves the two lead characters getting to know each other and forming a connection. It was hardly the “love story” that they promised. While the ending felt rather tacked on, a necessary tragic ending in order to give the movie more weight to appeal to awards. It’s still a solid movie. But I’ve always viewed it as not much more than a stepping stone.
Fahd
I very much enjoyed God’s Own Country. I understand there’s a censored version going around – that’s too bad. Kanopy has the “unedited” version, last time I checked. O’Connor was terrific in the movie.
His Charles was good, but I didn’t think he was quite as strong there, despite the awards.
Moffett was an interesting film, but, at least in the version to which I had access, without any sex scenes.
I hope this next one is more realistic.
Ryan Field
So no one thinks it’s wrong here that once again the straight guy is playing gayface. He’s playing gay for pay and you all think this is wonderful? When are we going to learn to demand the same respect as other marginalized groups? This is pretty sad.
jayceecook
Don’t be *that* queen. It’s not cute.
jayceecook
Was waiting for Q to drop a post about this ever since I read the casting news a few days ago. I knew they wouldn’t be able to resist. LMFAO
Still, I’m very interested in this project. I loved “God’s Own Country”. Sad that is was overlooked for the snooze fest that was”Call Me By Your Name”. JO’C is a great actor and I’ve loved him in all the things I’ve seen him in. Fingers crossed this will be another one.
bsg1967
Could not agree more re “God’s Own Country” and “Call me when it’s over”
Kangol2
A factual question: when did Ben Shattuck win the Pulitzer Prize? He received a Pushcart Prize but as far as I can tell from basic online searches, he not been awarded a Pulitzer Prize, one of the highest honors for a US literary work? You can go to his webpage to see his awards and a Pulitzer isn’t among them.
I liked Josh O’Connor quite a bit as Prince Charles. He had the facial expressions, moodiness, quirkiness, and absurdity down well, especially in the episodes before Diana’s character was introduced. The film sounds decent and I won’t prejudge it just because the author, Shattuck, like the actors, appears to be straight. Nevertheless, more good to great gay/LGBTQ movies by gay/LGBTQ authors and directors starring gay/LGBTQ actors is always a good thing.
jayceecook
If anyone wants to read the short story the film is inspired by you can do so here
https: //www.thecommononline .org /the-history-of-sound/
Obviously you need to remove the spaces I added so Q would let this comment go through.
bsg1967
God’s own country and Brokeback Mountain are both superb movies and I look forward to seeing josh O’connor in this upcoming role, he truly is an excellent actor gay or straight.
HenryCameron
He’s also great in The Durrells in Corfu.
andy0529
I love how everyone is bypassing the fact that Dude Got D! …..scary D.
jayceecook
Say what now?