Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal to Play Wartime Lovers in World’s Hottest WWI Film

Something LGBTQ is happening to them. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by Getty Images

Do you like boys with big ears? Do you like actors from the British Isles being cast in American roles? Do you like historical gay romances? Then you are the exact reader who needs to know that Normal People hunk Paul Mescal and The Crown babe Josh O’Connor have been cast in The History of Sound, a “World War I love story” about two young men who “set out to record the lives, voices, and music of their American countrymen” while also falling in love. Oliver Hermanus will direct the adaptation of the Pushcart Prize–winning short story by Ben Shattuck. “Paul and Josh are two of the most promising actors of their generation who will share with us deeply soulful performances. This is an unexpected love story that needs to be told,” Hermanus said in a statement confirming the news to Variety. It will begin filming next summer. “In this snatched, short-lived moment in their young lives, and while discovering the epic sweep of the U.S., both men are deeply changed,” says the synopsis. Snatched indeed.