HERMÈS sweater, turtleneck, and pants and DIOR MEN boots.
most of them, at least—to see Harry Styles, Dawson’s co-star. “That was one of the only times that you were reminded you were working with someone very, very fa- mous,” he says, noting that, throughout filming, Styles made this easy to forget. While this might have been easy to forget on set, Styles’ stature is front of mind for many of those keen- ly anticipating the film. While this frenzy might offer a potential distraction from the story, Dawson sees val- ue in the attention it brings to the film. “It’s wonderful that, hopefully, it will mean that a lot of younger people will watch the story,” he says earnestly, “and get to learn about a time in our past when things were very differ- ent. I think it’s good if it brings people to the project, that perhaps wouldn’t have [watched] before.” Dawson first met his co-stars Emma Corrin and Harry Styles in a sound booth, where they recorded the song from a scene in which the trio is getting “a little bit drunk” and rowdy in a restaurant. Singing for one another upon first meeting threw them into “the deep end” Dawson recounts. This was, he acknowledges, quite clever. “It meant any nerves or awkwardness with meeting new people goes out the window,” he laughs. This ice breaker, combined with a longer-than-typical rehearsal period of about three weeks, enabled the ac- tors to create a sense of trust between themselves, to look after one another. “Because some of it is emotional scenes and vulnerable moments,” Dawson recalls. “We had each other’s backs—it made it quite special.” This bond was only heightened by the fact that the actors were in COVID bubbles throughout film- ing; they never even met the actors who play the pri- mary characters’ older likenesses before the premiere, save for via one-on-one phone calls. Yet the trios’ sto- ries weaved together seamlessly on-screen—a coming together Dawson describes as a joy to watch. “I think that’s always my biggest treat,” he says of the experience of seeing his colleagues and new friends’ work on the film for the first time. At the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Dawson and Gina McKee (who plays the elder version of Corrin’s Marion) got the chance to make up for lost time while stuck in a lift. “TIFF gave us a best ensemble award and we were going to collect it, and we very near- ly didn’t make the stage!” he laughs. “It was one of my favorite moments from Toronto,” he adds with a smile. Nothing will bond two actors who have never sat down for a drink together like cozying up in a claustropho- bia-inducing lift for a perennial period of time.”
A top the cobbled streets of brighton , hundreds of fans and paparazzi swell like an impending storm cloud around the set of My Policeman , David Dawson’s latest—and, perhaps, largest—film. Dawson likens this particular day of shooting the 1950s forbidden love story to the experience of performing onstage, in that the film set trans- formed into a sort of outdoor theatre before an eager crowd. “That was the only day where it felt like you were playing a theatre like The Globe,” Dawson reflects. “You’re performing outdoors. People are watching. There was no noise, so it was like performing a play.” Dawson’s deferral to the stage is fitting for an actor whose career has been steeped in theatrical performance—having starred in plays since his professional debut in 2005, performing for companies as varied as The Old Vic to The Globe, while concurrently starring in over 24 works of film and television. It’s where he met My Policeman director Michael Grandage some eleven years ago, on the set of Luise Miller at Covent Garden’s Donmar Warehouse. Grandage also produced 2015’s The Dazzle , which Dawson cites as one of his favorite plays he’s been a part of.With My Policeman , this friendship enjoyed a dynamic diversification. Dawson solidified his acting journey in 2002 after being accepted into the acting program at RADA. After leaving in 2005, he starred in his first role on the stage in Richard II for The Old Vic, going on to appear in 14 plays while scooping up roles on television shows Doc Martin , Peaky Blind- ers , and many more. Brighton is not, however, The Globe Theatre (shocker!). It’s about fifty miles south. There are no icosagon-shaped stalls. Neither is there a River Thames just beyond the bank. This particularly frenzied scene was, in fact, engendered by a very unfamiliar circumstance: sharing this cobbled stage with one of the most famous people in the world. The fans had come—
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