My Policeman: David Dawson on creating a ‘beautiful queer story’ with Harry Styles

With LGBTQ+ representation still scarce on the big screen, My Policeman’s status as one of the most anticipated – and dissected, we should add – films of the year was inevitable. (It also stars Harry Styles, very famous singer, so there’s that too.) Based on Bethan Roberts’ lauded gay novel of the same name set in 1950s Brighton, the poignant drama follows the heartwreching story of Tom (Styles), a closeted police officer who marries a schoolteacher called Marion (Emma Corrin) rather than his true love Patrick (David Dawson) due to the era’s social constraints. Also starring Linus Roache, Gina McKee and Rupert Everett as their older counterparts, respectively, My Policeman made history when the cast were announced as the collective winners of the ‘Actor Award’ at TIFF Tribute, marking the first time it was presented to an ensemble rather than an individual.

Known for various roles on-stage and in British dramas such as Ripper Street, Peaky Blinders and The Last Kingdom, Dawson’s stunning performance as the gay gallerist has been singled out for praise amongst critics with several hailing My Policeman as his mainstream breakthrough. As a gay man, Dawson tells GAY TIMES that learning about this specific moment in history was “fascinating” and gave him a “greater appreciation” of the pioneers who campaigned for LGBTQ+ equality. “There will be a lot of younger people who perhaps don’t know about this period of time in British history, so I hope it opens a lot of people’s minds,” he says. “I watched Tom Daley’s documentary, Illegal to Be Me, and that’s a prime example to remind people that around the world, things like this are still continuing to happen. It also made me feel incredibly privileged to have the freedoms and the rights that we have and been fought for and achieved over the years.”

Ahead of My Policeman’s release in cinemas and on Prime Video, we spoke with David Dawson about the film, how he and Harry Styles ensured the relationship between Patrick and Tom would be as authentic as possible and why he “absolutely” wants to take on more queer roles in future projects.

David, where are you in the world right now?

I’m in a hotel room in North London. I’m filming a series down here. I moved to Manchester so I’m living out of a bag in North London! I’ve just been reading about you, that you just interviewed all the new queens for Drag Race UK?

I did! Are you a Drag Race fan?

I’m a huge Drag Race fan, yeah. I think the only time I’ve ever been properly starstruck was when I was with some mates in The Soho Theatre bar and turned around and Jinkx Monsoon was standing there. I went up to her but I did not know what to say at all.

So when can we expect your guest appearance on Drag Race UK, then?

[Laughs] Make it happen, Sam!

We’ll @ RuPaul on Twitter and we’ll make it happen.

Actually, I can now technically say I worked with RuPaul Charles. I did a beautiful animated movie earlier in the year, and I think it’s coming out at Christmas – and we’re both in it! I never got to meet Mama Ru, but I can say I worked with her at least.

Let’s talk My Policeman. By the end, I was absolutely blubbering. How excited are you to finally get this film out into the world?

Oh, incredibly, yeah. We wrapped on this in June last year and you have to acknowledge that it’s not yours anymore and I’m excited for it to be for the audience, and to find out how people respond to what we made. We all cared very much about the story so it means a lot to me to hear what people think of it. I’m glad you had a moving response to it, thank you.

I know you’ve worked with Michael Grandage on the stage a few times, but why were you interested in taking on such a complex character like Patrick Hazelwood?

Initially, what I was fascinated by with Patrick was how skilfully out of necessity he has to have two personas: the public persona in which he can not only survive but thrive and achieve his ambitions, travel the world and curate art, and then balancing that with the private man and the vulnerability of him behind closed doors. He’s somebody who, just like everybody else, wants to find love and joy in the world. What I found most fascinating was asking myself, ‘What is a safe space for someone like Patrick living through that time?’ The symbolism of his apartment is one of the only spaces where he can be authentically himself. Also, doing research into the history of gay bars as safe spaces gave me a greater appreciation of what those buildings mean. As a gay man myself, he had to live during that time in our country’s history… To walk into a room with no other affirmation in your life, at all, and to see other people who are just as ambitious and clever and passionate as you… All of that fascinated me about playing Patrick.

The experience of every LGBTQ+ person is wildly different, of course, but did you see any part of yourself in Patrick when you read the script?

I’m quite an introvert, quite a quiet lad and acting is what I’ve always wanted to do since I was a little boy. That was my way of expressing myself in the world. I suppose with Patrick, that public persona he puts on is an act. In private, he’s far more reserved.

Was there anything specific you learned about LGBTQ+ rights, or lack thereof, during this moment in history?

I watched a wonderful BBC drama called Against the Law, which had a lot of talking heads of gay men who had lived through this moment in history. What horrified me the most was the conversion therapies that were in place that were mainstream. It was deeply affecting to hear those men’s stories. There’s a scene later in the movie, a particularly violent scene, that reminded me of that documentary. When you research that time, you can have a feeling of anger and hurt… Years ago, I played Tony Warren – the man who created Coronation Street back in 1960 – in a drama and I was lucky enough to become his friend. He was an out gay man in 1960 and he used to take me for dinners. He’s no longer with us, sadly, but he also told me stories of joy and the passion of clandestine romances, so that was also very helpful in terms of Patrick’s mentality. He’s a person who’s proud of his sexuality and does not see himself as a victim and is determined to find joy and love and passion and art in the world.

My Policeman is based on a fictional novel, but of course, the events are not too dissimilar to how gay and queer people were treated in the 50s. As a queer actor, what does it mean to you to bring a story to life that carries so much emotional weight for your community?

Even in some small way, if My Policeman adds to the conversation… There will be a lot of younger people who perhaps don’t know about this period of time in British history, so I hope it opens up a lot of people’s minds. Even though it’s a period piece about 50s Britain, hopefully there’s poignancy in the fact that this is not something for us all to go, ‘Oh, that was then and everything’s fine now.’ I watched Tom Daley’s documentary, Illegal to Be Me, and that’s a prime example to remind people that around the world, things like this are still continuing to happen. It also made me feel incredibly privileged to have the freedoms and the rights that we have and been fought for and achieved over the years. I just watched It’s A Sin last year and I was heartbroken by it, but thought it was stunning. That was a similar kind of learning curve of learning about our past and rhetoric that was mainstream as well.