The History of Sound UK Premiere

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Josh O'Connor, Paul Mescal and Emma Canning are starring in brand new romantic drama, The History of Sound.  Director, Oliver Hermanus told us how special both actors are at the UK Premiere at The London Film Festival.  The History of Sound is scheduled to be released in UK cinemas on 23rd  January 2026 Report by Jonesl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

Transcript

00:00Paul was feeling himself nice.

00:02Plenty more singing to come.

00:04He didn't know I was Irish.

00:06I mean, one of them was playing Paul McCartney.

00:18See you later. Hi, how are you?

00:20You're choosing lots of amazing independent artistic films.

00:22Is that a conscious decision of yours?

00:24It is a conscious decision, I suppose,

00:26but not necessarily to do with the scale of the film,

00:28more so to do with the standard of the writing

00:30and the directors and the actors involved.

00:32I mean, it's my happy place, I think.

00:34And what about the fact that it's emotional?

00:36How do you switch off when you go home?

00:38Are you hanging out with Josh?

00:40Hanging out with Josh, we're just singing.

00:42No.

00:44No, we're not.

00:46Sometimes we're hanging out, we're going out in the tent.

00:48No, we're not.

00:50Sometimes it's easier to switch off than others,

00:52but I don't have a cheat code

00:56to figuring that out, yeah.

00:58And queer cinema being on a stage like this,

01:00how important is that?

01:02I mean, it's incredibly important.

01:03I feel like the last couple of years

01:05we've both been involved with films

01:06that have played here on this platform

01:08and, like, it's just an incredible journey

01:13that the film industry is going on

01:15and I think it has a further way to go with it,

01:18but I'm very happy to be a part of this film.

01:21You're paid in the way for that, so thank you for that.

01:23I hope so, I'm happy to be involved in that.

01:25I was going to say, more songs and more films

01:27are you singing in it, but we've got something

01:28to look forward to, haven't we?

01:29Yeah, we've got plenty more singing to come.

01:31Just a little bit.

01:32Thank you for that.

01:33Hello, how are you?

01:34You've been taking lots of different films.

01:35How are you?

01:36Are you exhausted?

01:37A little tired, yeah.

01:38I'm all right, I'm doing good.

01:39You're a priest for one minute, now you're here.

01:40I know.

01:41How important is it that stories like this,

01:43queer stories like this, are on the big screen,

01:45at London Film Festival?

01:47Yeah, well I think hopefully we continue to make more and more.

01:53I know tonight we have Pillion as well, which is an incredible movie.

01:59You know, ultimately everyone should feel seen

02:05and be able to go to the cinema and see some sort of representation.

02:09So it's definitely a good thing.

02:11You're very good.

02:12And that guy there is pretty good with you as well.

02:14You said you were feeding him snacks off screen.

02:16How did that work?

02:17Was it physical snack feeding?

02:18I say I was feeding him snacks.

02:20I think Paul was feeding himself snacks.

02:22But I was actively encouraging it.

02:24Yeah, there were two particular snacks.

02:28There was a cinnamon crunch biscuit,

02:30which we both really like, Nature Valley.

02:32And then there was a Jolly Rancher gummy that we're obsessed with.

02:35You're in New Jersey, it makes sense.

02:37So the singing, were you nervous?

02:39And who's a better singer, you or him?

02:40Oh, Paul.

02:41No, Paul's a great singer.

02:42I was very, very nervous and I'm a little shy singing.

02:47So it took a bit of encouragement from Paul and the gang.

02:53But no, I loved it.

02:55I mean, the truth is I actually love singing.

02:57You know, when I was at drama school,

02:59I used to do a lot of kind of collective singing in groups

03:03and I just love it so much.

03:05And it has inspired, I'd love to join a choir one day.

03:08It's one of my ambitions.

03:09You're not the fifth Beatle in the new film then, no?

03:11No, no, no.

03:12No, far from.

03:13You had a word, didn't you?

03:14Yeah, sorry?

03:15You had a word with him.

03:16I'll have a word.

03:17Hello, how are you?

03:18Nice to meet you.

03:19I love you, I love the flower.

03:20Oh, thank you.

03:21Is it a little bit of both all skid come latest?

03:24I don't know.

03:25They've taken some creative liberty, I think.

03:27Oh, I love it.

03:28So, we are here at the London Film Festival.

03:29How special is it to show a film like the History of Sound here?

03:32Oh, my God.

03:33I mean, the BFI.

03:34I've lived in London now for nearly 10 years.

03:37So, I've spent a lot of time here and like on the South Bank and just,

03:42yeah, it's really kind of surreal to be not in the audience.

03:47It's your time, I love it.

03:50So, the people that got involved in this, I mean, the guys on that poster, I keep looking

03:54at it, it's a beautiful poster.

03:56Josh and Paul, just how wonderful are those guys?

03:59They're exactly what you think they are.

04:02They're exactly what you want them to be and like more.

04:05Yeah, just really, really wonderful people.

04:08Was there much Irish bonding going on with you and Paul?

04:11Yes, he didn't know I was Irish because I play an English person when I got the part.

04:16So, I think like an immediate like sigh of relief.

04:22Yeah, it just, I guess it's just a shorthand and a kind of an ease that comes with having

04:29a foothold of how your upbringing went.

04:33So, did you and Paul manage to get some Guinness on set to influence Josh?

04:38No, we didn't grab a Guinness actually, but we were shooting in the States.

04:42So, I don't think we'd have been reaching for the Guinness over there.

04:48You can't find it really over there, can you?

04:50I don't think I've heard good things about the New Jersey Guinness.

04:53So, what do you think about films like this being shown on the mainstream, these artistic,

04:58beautiful independent movies?

04:59How does that feel that they're at places like this?

05:02I mean, it's so wonderful that a film like this would be shown on the mainstream.

05:07I think it's such a testament, I suppose, to the whole team behind it and sort of, I mean,

05:15Oliver obviously with Living and kind of that fan base that he's pulling with him and Paul

05:21with Josh and I think it's really special.

05:24Did you have any fangirl moments with Paul, with Josh?

05:28You know, to say, I loved you in this, loved you in that.

05:30Did you, you know, did you have any moments like that?

05:32Of course, I mean, I have yet to meet Josh because we shot so separately.

05:38So, I probably will tonight.

05:40What are you going to say to him?

05:42Oh, my God.

05:44Like, just, I mean, even his work in this, I haven't got to say, like, fuck.

05:51Yeah, well done.

05:52Yeah.

05:53Well done yourself.

05:54Enjoy every moment and lap up being on the stage and not in the audience.

05:58I know, I know.

05:59Thank you so much.

06:00It was lovely to meet you.

06:01How do you go from Bill Nighy getting an Oscar nomination to two other absolutely

06:05juggernauts of film?

06:06I'm assuming you're having a rather nice time.

06:09Very fortunate, feeling like, you know, the best actors in the world come from England

06:15and Ireland.

06:16Even if we shoot in America.

06:18Yeah, just feeling like very much enriched.

06:21Yeah, I spoke to Emma about that.

06:23Apparently there wasn't much Guinness involved because you were in America in New Jersey.

06:27Yes, New Jersey is not what you think it is.

06:30It's basically Tony Soprano.

06:32But no, it was, New Jersey was, it gave us what we wanted.

06:36Yeah.

06:37Talk to me about getting those two to sing, Josh and Paul.

06:40Was it a kind of a twist arm moment?

06:42Were they very happy to do it?

06:43Were you surprised at their voices?

06:45Tell me everything.

06:46No, that was a big draw for them.

06:48They love singing.

06:49They love music.

06:50It was, it was, yeah, it was the, it was the lean in for them.

06:53No, they, they, they love singing.

06:54So great.

06:55Can we do another film with just jazz hands and those two singing and dancing, please?

06:58I mean, one of them is playing Paul McCartney.

07:01Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

07:03Maybe you couldn't get any bigger than that.

07:05Okay, fair enough.

07:06So let's talk about the fact that this is a queer film, a huge mainstream, you know, film festival.

07:11How important is it these films are getting seen?

07:14It's very important because it's about just giving people the opportunity to imagine and to have representation

07:20and to feel like they can be, that their lives can be complicated and messy as queer people

07:26and, and that it's, it's a part of history.

07:28Yeah.

07:29And when you saw this script, what was your immediate reaction?

07:32How did you feel?

07:33I mean, I, I started with the, with the short.

07:35I, I came on pre-script.

07:36Uh, I was on a plane and I, I was very moved and, and I knew that it was something that I

07:41had to make sure nobody else got to make.

07:43Oh, I loved that.

07:44Getting there first.

07:45It was very greedy.

07:46And just finally, what would you like people to feel after they've left?

07:49Or how would you like it to change their mindset and how they, how they are?

07:54I think, I suppose the simplest way of answering that is that I would like them to go and tell

08:00somebody really important that they love them.

08:03Mic drop.

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