Harry Styles' New Acting Career Looks Great

One Direction fans may still be mourning the news of Liam Payne leaving the band, but here's some good news: As members of the band slowly branch off toward their own musical pursuits, they all seem to be doing awesome things that make them happy. Case in point: new behind-the-scenes photos of Harry Styles on the set of Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan's upcoming World War II drama. And, with these images, it's clear that we're going to be seeing a whole lot more of the boy band heartthrob — even if that means that he won't be alongside his fellow bandmates for quite some time.

While the 22-year-old never officially announced a split from One Direction, it was announced a while back that Styles is taking on acting in the highly-anticipated time period flick. And now, with the emergence of his new costumed look, Styles doesn't look like he belongs anywhere else. With his loyal ties to the band still intact (for now, anyway), it's clear that the 1D member is only exploring new artistic endeavors. (The photos, of course, also make the reasoning behind the chopping off of his hair only more understandable — the film follows "allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain and France" whom "are surrounded by the German army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II," and I doubt IRL any of them had as luscious hair as Styles did.) In fact, in these shots he looks like he's already deep in character — so I think it's safe to say that Styles is remaining just as dreamy as ever when he's on a set instead of on the stage.

Meanwhile, most of the details behind Nolan's film — which also stars actors Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance — has remained under wraps. With Styles' role still unspecified, fans don't exactly know what to expect when the movie hits theaters next summer. However, with this look at him on set, his role could actually end up being pretty substantial to the overall plot, therefore opening up the possibility that — much like the singers-turned-actors that came before — this could be exactly the kind of career move Styles needs while Zayn Malik and Liam Payne go on to make their own music. In fact, a lateral career move such as this one seem to have worked out quite well for former boy band members of the past as well: Just look at Justin Timberlake's successful acting career following his departure from *NSYNC.

So prepare yourselves, Directioners. One Direction may be on a hiatus now, but each of the boys is gearing up to make 2017 their year — and Styles' acting career does nothing but make him that much more dreamy. Dunkirk hits theaters July 21, 2017.