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In news that’s weirdly important to me (and now you too): Did you know Harry Styles almost starred in Nosferatu? No, seriously. The Grammy-winning singer nearly had a main role in the 2024 remake of the 1922 silent horror classic. But, plot twist: He wasn’t going to play the creepy, bald, bloodthirsty vampire.

In a 2022 interview with IndieWire, Nosferatu director Robert Eggers spilled that Harry was all set to play Thomas Hutter, but backed out due to “scheduling issues.” That role eventually went to Nicholas Hoult. And it gets better: Harry was going to act opposite Anya Taylor-Joy, who was originally in talks to play Ellen Hutter. Her role ended up going to Lily-Rose Depp instead. Talk about a cast shake-up.

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“It’s fallen apart twice,” Robert said about his long, cursed journey to make Nosferatu. “I’ve been trying to get the word out because the word did carry that Harry Styles was going to be in the movie. I just want to be clear that he was going to be Hutter and not Nosferatu himself.”

Honestly, I can’t tell if Harry’s floppy curls would’ve been amazing or distracting in 19th-century Germany, but either way, I’m intrigued. Robert also admitted he thought the project might be doomed, saying, “I’ve been trying so hard. And I just wonder if Murnau’s ghost is telling me, like, you should stop.” Spoiler alert: He didn’t stop. The movie finally premiered in December 2024 and is already getting serious Oscar buzz. Persistence pays off, folks.

As for Harry, he’s stayed mum about why he passed on the role, but it’s not his first time saying no to a major film. Remember Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid? Director Rob Marshall confirmed Harry was their top pick for Prince Eric, opposite Halle Bailey’s Ariel.

So, why didn’t Harry go full Disney prince? According to Rob, Harry wanted to take on darker, more serious roles and avoid musicals while transitioning from pop star to actor. “We met with him. He was lovely. What a wonderful guy,” Rob told Entertainment Weekly. “But at the end of the day, he really felt like he wanted to go off and do the movies that he ended up doing, which were sort of darker.”

Translation: Harry’s more about brooding drama than singing underwater. “For a lot of young musical people like Harry, you’re trying to carve your way and you don’t wanna be seen as a singer, necessarily,” Rob added. “That’s why he was really looking to do something not in the musical genre, to really stretch himself.”

And stretch himself he did. While he skipped The Little Mermaid, Harry scored supporting roles in Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling and the emotional queer drama My Policeman.