Josh O'Connor had 'moving experience' watching Paul Mescal act in The History of Sound

Josh O'Connor was moved watching his good friend Paul Mescal act in their new movie The History of Sound.

The period romance drama follows the relationship between two men, Lionel and David, who meet at a music conservatory in 1917 and later embark on a research trip to collect folk songs.

The actors met on Zoom in 2020 after O'Connor watched Mescal's breakout performance in the TV show Normal People, and they have been friends ever since.

During a recent interview with The Guardian, O'Connor explained that he wanted to make The History of Sound with Mescal to watch the Irish star's acting process up close.

"There is something spiritual about what happens. When 'action' is called, and you look into your friend's eyes and see something depart, and something else take its place, that is a very moving experience," he praised. "Physically, the form is Paul. But emotionally, spiritually, he's vacated. How he does that, f**k knows."

In return, the Gladiator II actor complimented his co-star on his willingness to go to dark places for his characters.

"There's such a generosity of spirit in Josh as a person. He extends that into a performance, sometimes to the detriment of his own well-being," he gushed. "That is an incredibly f**king generous thing to give people for a cinema-going experience. I wouldn't say he is a method actor but that doesn't mean he won't experience the cost to the character because he has such empathy for them."

The in-demand stars previously revealed that they had been wanting to make the film for five years, but the production kept being pushed back because they were never available at the same time. However, they insisted that director Oliver Hermanus wait for their schedules to align instead of finding replacements who had more availability.

The History of Sound will be released in U.K. cinemas on 23 January.