One Direction fans went into overdrive today after photos of Harry Styles emerged on set of a World War Two blockbuster.
It’s fair to say the singer looked a little different than usual for his role in Batman director Christopher Nolan’s epic about the evacuation of thousands of British troops at Dunkirk during the war.
Gone are the boyband star’s long, straggly locks in favour of a classic 1940s short, back and sides.
So far…. Harry in character for Dunkirk. @Harry_Styles #DunkirkMovie pic.twitter.com/CHiY5Bz6Hr
— Hiii 165998 ⚓ (@Harryedsytles) May 25, 2016
He was photographed with his period haircut in full British Army regalia as filming began on site in Normandy for the movie, which is about the largest evacuation in military history.
Styles’ role in the film is still as yet unannounced, but his debut big screen part will see him star alongside the likes of Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Kenneth Branagh.
It appears that Styles will play one of the 338,000 Allied troops rescued from the clutches of the advancing Germans between May 27 and June 4, 1940.
With his wrist bloodied and bandaged for the role, he took his place among hundreds of extras on the Normandy beaches, with WW2 warships and vessels out to see, where the real evacuation took place almost 76 years ago to the day.
With Nolan at the helm, who is best known for his work on the Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception and Interstellar, it’s sure to be a brilliant film.
New Dunkirk behind the scenes👍 #christophernolan #harrystyles #tomhardy #cillianmurphy #kennethbranagh pic.twitter.com/msrLDNH6d7
— Lee Greenhough (@leegreenhough) May 25, 2016
The huge Allied evacuation was codenamed Operation Dynamo and relies on a flotilla of British vessels crossing the channel to save the thousands of stricken troops.
It enabled Britain to carry on fighting the war against the Nazi forces and will go down as one of the biggest manoeuvres of the conflict.
As soon as One Direction fans got wind that Styles was filming, complete with his dashing 40s look they reacted with calm, restraint and equanimity.
We’re only joking…
https://twitter.com/aojimine/status/735545908675256320
https://twitter.com/aestheticasparl/status/735553827840086021
https://twitter.com/FleetwoodBabe/status/735553817140449280
https://twitter.com/__helen___16/status/735553564064501761
My #TeenChoice nominee for #ChoiceMaleHottie is @Harry_Styles bc he is the hottest person I've ever known pic.twitter.com/JfuC5eC4RS
— Sweet Creature 🙂 (@Harrys_Lil_Girl) May 25, 2016
@Harry_Styles sos lo que mas amo en este mundo 💕🎀🌹 pic.twitter.com/h5YlIVcNAs
— sofia (@chqsofia) May 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/suzeysays/status/735550709261815808
Harry styles is my dad https://t.co/mlGblzB4Ua
— ☁️megatron (@renaslegs) May 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/KrisAtomic/status/735547936067706880