Josh O’Connor responds to fan-given heartthrob title

Josh O’Connor, widely regarded as one of the industry’s hottest young actors, firmly denies being a heartthrob.

Speaking with PEOPLE at the New York City premiere of his new film The History of Sound on Tuesday, Sept. 2, O’Connor reacted to the label.

“No,” O’Connor said with a laugh when asked if he agreed with fans calling him a heartthrob. “Absolutely not. Yeah, absolutely not a heartthrob.”

The Crown actor stars in the film alongside Paul Mescal, portraying two young men who meet while studying music in Boston in the 1910s and fall in love as they bond through music.

O’Connor, who is also a close friend of Mescal, told the outlet that their real-life friendship helped them step into their characters for The History of Sound.

“Firstly, I feel so lucky when I get to work with my friends — it doesn’t happen all that often, but sometimes it does. It just adds to the chemistry, I think,” he explained. “And then on top of that, we’re both big fans of each other’s work, so it was just about responding to each other and doing what we normally do. It was great.”

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