Josh O’Connor in that sex scene with Zendaya and Mike Feist—and Ceramics

There is some controversy about gay actors playing gay men. You have played gay characters in two films. God’s own country and future The history of sound. What is your philosophy? Do you have any reservations about this?

This is a really tough topic. The truth is that eventually I will read the script and what affects me affects me. The history of sound it’s a movie about many things. For example, about grief. It’s about communication. It’s also about the music. It’s about what happens in life when you fall in love with someone and maybe that bond breaks, you know? Another character from God’s own country was someone who could not love, be loved and receive love. The sexuality of the character, the background of the character, where he grew up, his dynamic with his family are all aspects of any character, so I take that as seriously as any other aspect. But to be honest, I’m not 100% sure how I feel about it. I think I have mixed feelings.

Your co-star Paul Mescal said that it’s easier for him to play gay sex scenes than to play tenderness after sex. Relationship chemistry is more complex, more complex.

A sex scene is a very strange thing. It’s the least sexy thing in the world. You can ask Mike Feist and Zendaya about it It might look sexy on screen, but in reality it’s just a fight sequence, a bit of action, a trick or a dance. It’s a very choreographed, rehearsed thing, and you’re surrounded by a room full of people—someone’s holding a microphone and a camera and a light. I see what (Paul) means. On the other hand, being vulnerable and intimate with another actor is more revealing and scarier because you often have to tap into something inside you that is sometimes blocked or hidden, whatever it is, and that can be scary.

It always amazes me how sensitive you can be on screen. And if it looks and feels real, then you’ve honed in on the emotion of it, right?

It’s actually funny, even the idea of ​​capturing reality is a tricky concept to me, because sometimes—and this tips the hat to my audience—sometimes you don’t necessarily want “real.” We tell stories as a civilization from scratch, and the act of storytelling can take many forms. You just have to look at the way Luca Guadagnino tells the story, or Alice Rohrwacher, or Kelly (Reichhardt), or Martin Scorsese, or (Hatch) Dardenne.