David's a musicologist, even if he might not apply that word, which had only been coined a couple of decades prior. More colloquially, he's a song collector, making regular treks into rural America to record, on wax cylinders, the traditional airs that European immigrants brought with them and made their own, and which would go on to form one of the major support beams in the American musical edifice.
In "The History of Sound," a new romantic drama set during and after the First World War, passion is an intensely private thing, and in more ways than you might expect. Love and desire are not simply expressed in the sweaty vigor of bodies in bed; the two central characters are turned on, and brought together, by moments of quietly harmonious convergence, rooted in shared qualities of heightened perception, cultivated taste, and specialized knowledge.
The two actors met during the pandemic, on Zoom, after O'Connor watched "Normal People" and like many of us, believed he was discovering an exciting young talent. He emailed his American agent: "You have to see this kid. He's amazing." His agent had already signed him. It turns out Mescal had been watching O'Connor, as well. The two got on famously, and have been chums ever since. (Check out their hilarious recent appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.")
