Eternals director Chloé Zhao explains why she cast Harry Styles as Thanos' brother Eros

5 November 2021, 14:16

Harry Styles helps fan come out on 2021 tour

By Sam Prance

Harry Styles appears as Eros aka Starfox in an Eternals post-credits scene.

Eternals director Chloé Zhao has opened up about her choice to cast Harry Styles as Eros in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Harry Styles may be best known as a singer but the 27-year-old is beginning to make a name for himself as one of the most in-demand actors of his generation. Since One Direction went on hiatus in 2016, Harry has appeared in Dunkirk and landed roles in highly anticipated movies including My Policeman with Emma Corrin and Don't Worry Darling with Florence Pugh.

Harry has also bagged the role of Thanos' brother Eros/Starfox in the MCU and he's just made his first appearance as the role in an Eternals post-credits scene. Now, Eternals director Chloé Zhao has revealed why she picked Harry for the part.

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Chatting to Cinema Blend, about the casting, Chloé explained: "Well I pitched the idea of Eros to Kevin [Feige] a while back, and I love the idea of getting to know Thanos' brother. He's an Eternal. And the idea of him having gone through what the Eternals have gone through, doing their work for the Celestials is very interesting and how that might have affected Thanos to become who he is today."

She then added: "And I love that idea and for me it was never like, OK, let's do this character and let's go find an actor. I kept tabs on Harry Styles since he appeared in Dunkirk 'cause whoever Nolan casts I always keep an eye open and I immediately thought, ‘This person makes me think of Eros as a character.’ He comes to life when I met him. It was very much a package."

In other words, it looks like there was no one who captured the spirit of Eros/Starfox better than Harry.

It's currently unclear when Harry will next appear in the MCU as Eros but, given that an Eternals sequel is already in the works, we imagine it won't be too long until he next appears.

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