‘My Policeman’ Star Emma Corrin Found a ‘Clever Way of Breaking the Ice’ with Co-Star Harry Styles: We Were ‘Both Scared S***less’

Starring opposite Harry Styles cannot be easy, even for Hollywood’s newest sensation, Emma Corrin. Don’t Worry Darling’s Styles was recently dubbed the “world’s most wanted man” by Rolling Stone.

The pop star’s My Policeman co-stars, Corrin and David Dawson, admitted to being intimidated when filming with the megastar. In their interview with Variety, Corrin and Dawson describe how the trio finally found a way to break the ice and build the characters’ unique bonds.  

‘My Policeman’ stars Emma Corrin, Harry Styles, and David Dawson

Based on the book by Bethan Roberts, My Policeman is the story of a complicated love triangle. Marion (Corrin) is in love with Tom (Styles), a closeted homosexual police officer, who is in love with Patrick (Dawson).

Marion is unsuspecting of Tom and Patrick’s secret relationship. She marries Tom, but the story grows increasingly complicated after Patrick is arrested and jailed for his sexual preferences. 

The film is told in dual timelines, with the story of the young characters set in 1950s England. The story’s resolution unfolds in the ’90s. This allowed for small, pandemic-filming-friendly groups of three to rehearse via Zoom. 

Breaking the ice with Harry Styles

Following several weeks of virtual rehearsals, when it came time to meet Styles and act with him, Corrin admits they were “scared s***less.” 

“The first time the three of us got together, we were thrown into a sound booth,” Dawson reveals to Variety. “We got around the piano, and we had to sing for each other, and that was a really clever way of breaking the ice.”

The song Dawson refers to is seen in the film at the beginning of Tom, Patrick, and Marion’s budding friendship. To gain more time with Tom, Patrick orchestrates a series of events to which he invites Tom and Marion. One of their adventures leads to them all singing the iconic song “I’m Going To Get Lit Up (When The Lights Go Up In London).”

However, the actors first met to record the song in a recording studio “which is Harry’s natural habitat,” Corrin points out to Variety. “But we [Corrin and Dawson] both were scared shitless.”

The icebreaker worked. The trio all became friends — a connection evident in My Policeman.

Emma Corrin’s biggest movies have a lot in common

Before Corrin’s complex portrayal of Marion in My Policeman, the actor burst onto Hollywood’s radar in their portrayal of Princess Diana in Netflix’s The Crown Season 4.

Next, Corrin stars as Connie Chatterley in Netflix’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. This marks the actor’s third period piece. Interestingly, in each of Corrin’s roles, the actor portrays women involved in complicated love triangles, questioning their marriage’s validity. 

Speaking to The Cut about the similarities in their recent roles, Corrin says, “These women long to be freed within themselves, and recognized, and validated in their sexuality.”

But fans will soon see Corrin shift gears entirely. Returning to modern times as a young, amateur detective, they just wrapped production on FX’s upcoming mystery drama due out by the end of 2022.