{"id":2039703,"date":"2025-09-21T21:41:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T21:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2039703"},"modified":"2025-09-21T21:41:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T21:41:19","slug":"paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnor-on-their-shared-turn-on-in-history-of-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnor-on-their-shared-turn-on-in-history-of-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor on their shared ‘turn-on’ in History of Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The traditional folk ballad \u201cSilver Dagger\u201d is central to the love story between young men in Oliver Hermanus\u2019s gay romantic tearjerker, History of Sound<\/em>.<\/a> A shared love of music draws Paul Mescal\u2019s Lionel and Josh O\u2019Connor\u2019s David together in a bar at the New England Conservatory of Music, where they meet, and where David plays lost folk ballads on the piano. Eventually, their passion for the stories of star-crossed lovers and tragedy set to music lands them in bed and an epic love affair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s nothing more attractive [than] when somebody expresses an interest or a passion for something. It’s the most attractive thing to witness somebody passionate about,\u201d Mescal tells Out<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Based on a story by Ben Shattuck, History of Sound <\/em>spans from approximately 1910 to the mid-1920s, and follows Lionel from his humble farm in Kentucky to college in Boston, where he and David meet and fall in love. Following a years-long separation while David fights in World War I, the men embark on a journey to excavate and preserve the word-of-mouth folk ballads embedded in the culture in the far corners of Maine. A voiceover from elder Lionel (Chris Cooper) informs the viewer of Lionel\u2019s synesthesia, his ability to experience sound through all of his senses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it turns Lionel on so creatively to see David and share this kind of thing that he feels is niche and only kind of belongs to him. He’s like, from Kentucky, comes to Maine, doesn’t feel like he can necessarily connect to anybody on this,\u201d Mescal says. \u201cAnd then lo and behold, one night he’s sitting in a bar and it’s David playing this song. If you put yourself in that position, it must have been the most exciting thing for him to hear this song through a bar and then see David and fall in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

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