Harry Styles and My Policeman cast win Toronto International Film Festival Award
It's the first time an ensemble cast has won the Award for Performance.
Words: Emily Maskell; pictures: Amazon Studios
It turns out Harry Styles really does have the cinema.
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) announced Monday (8 August) that the cast of My Policeman – Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, David Dawson, Linus Roache, Gina McKee, and Rupert Everett – have won the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance, an award for exceptional acting.
🏆 Announcing the recipient of the #TIFFTribute Award for Performance, presented by @PolestarCars:
The ensemble cast of Michael Grandage’s MY POLICEMAN (@Harry_Styles, Emma Corrin, Gina McKee, Linus Roache, David Dawson, and Rupert Everett). #TIFF22 pic.twitter.com/XhhYGoJJqC
— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) August 8, 2022
Michael Grandage’s My Policeman will have its world premiere at TIFF in September.
Of the film, TIFF says “director Michael Grandage carves a visually transporting, heart-stopping portrait of three people caught up in the shifting tides of history, liberty, and forgiveness.”
Based on Bethan Robert’s book of the same name, My Policeman follows a young police officer Tom (Styles) in 1950s Brighton who marries a teacher named Marion (Corrin) yet the officer can’t ignore his burgeoning feelings for museum curator Patrick (Dawson). The romance between Tom and Patrick threatens them all in a time when homosexuality is still illegal.
Linus Roache, Gina McKee, and Rupert Everett play older versions of Tom, Marion, and Patrick in scenes set in the 1990s.
“When your film shifts through time and across fluid boundaries of love and desire, you need a cast that can embody those nuances in every gesture,” said Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF.
“Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, and David Dawson deliver beautiful, mirrored performances with Linus Roache, Gina McKee, and Rupert Everett,” Bailey continued. “We’re thrilled to honour the ensemble cast of My Policeman with the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance.”
The cast make up the first-ever film ensemble to receive this honour, which is now a gender-neutral acting category; Corrin is the first non-binary actor to receive the award.
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Previously one male and one female actor were awarded this prestige, past winners include Jessica Chastain and Benedict Cumberbatch in 2021; Kate Winslet and Sir Anthony Hopkins in 2020; and Meryl Streep and Joaquin Phoenix in 2019.
This prestigious award is a great first indicator that Styles’ pivot into acting has paid off and filmmakers are clearly in agreement that he is leading man material; the ‘As It Was’ singer is also front and centre of Olivia Wilde’s psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling, opposite Florence Pugh and Chris Pine, due in cinemas 23 September.
Following its TIFF premiere, My Policeman will be in UK cinemas on 21 October and then on Prime Video on 4 November.
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