Christopher Nolan didn’t realize Harry Styles was famous before putting him in Dunkirk

By Sam Barsanti | July 9, 2017 | 8:59pm

Aux Features Film

Last March, we reported that Christopher Nolan had decided to make his war movie Dunkirk significantly more teen-friendly by casting One Direction’s Harry Styles in a relatively small role. Now, with Dunkirk arriving in U.S. theaters later this month, The Hollywood Reporter says that Nolan has shamefully revealed that he didn’t know who Styles was when he cast him in the movie. “My kids talked about him,” Nolan said, “but I wasn’t really aware of it. So the truth is, I cast Harry because he fit the part wonderfully and truly earned a seat at the table.”

Assuming that’s not bullshit and Nolan isn’t just covering for his blatant stunt casting, that means he was wholly unaware of One Direction’s many hit songs, including this one, that one, and a third one, but it also means that the odds of the other One Direction boys getting into a Nolan movie are pretty slim. After all, if the most famous member of the group had to get into the movie based on his talent, the others don’t stand a chance.

Nolan didn’t realize how blessed he was to spend time with Harry Styles, but Dunkirk star Mark Rylance seemed to get it. In that same Hollywood Reporter story, Rylance says his 11-year-old niece was more excited about Dunkirk than anything else he’s ever done—including Bridge Of Spies, presumably, which had beloved teen icons like Tom Hanks and Jesse Plemons.

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