MUMBAI: Singer-actor Harry Styles was overwhelmed while working for his film Dunkirk as the place in real world witnessed a loss of thousands of lives during the Second World War.

The 23-year-old says shooting Dunkirk on the place where the real World War II evacuations took place and where almost 70,000 lives were lost, brought home the scale of the tragedy to the cast and crew and they all felt a lot of 'respect' for the 'energy' of the French coast, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"I think everyone was very aware of where we were. There was a sense of knowing it happened there, which comes across on screen. The first thing for me was just real shock at the size of the beach. You try to imagine it filled with men and filled with bodies," Styles told The Sun newspaper.

"The area has an energy which people respect because it's difficult to do anything else."

"It's quite overwhelming. And I think being there -- as opposed to just in a film studio -- left no room for complaints about the whole crew. Filming was very physical, but I think everyone was aware that in comparison to the real soldiers' experience, we weren't going through much at all," he added.

The "Sign of the Times" singer was desperate to get a role in the movie as soon as he heard about director Christopher Nolan's plans.

"When I first heard about the project, I think it was something that -- even before it started filming -- I was already excited to watch," he said.

(Source: IANS)