Harry Styles turned down romcom role opposite Emilia Clarke for one key reason

One Direction member Harry Styles turned down a hit romcom which starred Emilia Clarke for one reason – with director Paul Feig confirming the singer was set to play a role in Last Christmas

The One Direction member and later solo singer sensation had been approached for the lead role in Paul Feig’s Christmas-themed romcom, Last Christmas, but turned it down. Styles, who had film roles in Dunkirk, Marvel’s Eternals, and Don’t Worry Darling, revealed why he rejected the chance to be in the film after the film was released.

The role later went to Henry Golding of The Gentlemen and Crazy Rich Asians fame, but Styles had been first choice for the role. The 2019 film, which also starred Clarke and Emma Thompson, made £100million at the box office.

Last Christmas entered production in September 2018, but it was not until November 2021 that Styles confirmed he had been approached for the lead role of the film. He would go on to appear in Eternals just two years later.

Styles, whose last film role was 2022’s My Policeman, confirmed he passed on Last Christmas as he felt he was too “young” for the part. Director Feig also spoke about his plan to work with the Watermelon Sugar singer.

He said: “I love Harry. We wanted him to play the part that Henry Golding played but he turned it down because he felt he was too young for the role. I’ve tried to get him in a few movies.”

While Styles may have been replaced by Golding in the George Michael-inspired movie, Styles would find himself replacing another high profile actor just three years later.

Casting for the Florence Pugh-led Don’t Worry Darling had Shia LaBeouf tipped to play the lead role. But a back-and-forth between director Olivia Wilde, who claimed she had fired LaBeouf from the film, and the Transformers star saying he felt he was not given enough time to prepare, led to him being replaced by Styles. LaBeouf denies being fired from the project.

Styles, who was dating Wilde at the time of the film’s production, was cast in the lead role as Jack. In an interview at the Venice Film Festival press conference, Styles admitted he had “no idea what I’m doing,” but loved making the film.

He said: “What I like about acting is I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. Making music is a really personal thing. There are aspects of acting where you’re drawing from experiences a bit, but for the most part you’re pretending to play someone else. That’s what I find the most interesting about it.

“They can aid each other in a way. Any time you get to view the world through a different lens, it can help to create whichever way it goes. I find it really different. I think the fun part is that you never know what you’re doing in either one of them.”