Don’t tell Harry. Eternals star Lauren Ridloff didn’t know who Harry Styles was before working together in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ridloff and Styles starred together in the first post-credit scene of 2021’s Eternals, which sees Eternals, Makkari (Ridloff), Thena (Angelina Jolie) and Druig (Barry Keoghan), meet Eros also known as Starfox (Styles) and his assistant, Pip the Troll (Patton Oswalt), aboard their spaceship, Domo. “Your friends are in big trouble, and we know where to find them,” Eros tells the Eternals before the scene cuts out.
While Styles’ cameo was one of the best-kept secrets in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (until it leaked a couple weeks before the Eternals premiere), the spoiler wasn’t too hard to keep a secret for Ridloff, who confessed to StyleCaster that she didn’t even know who Styles was before their scene together. “It wasn’t that hard because, first, honestly, I was like, ‘Harry Styles? Who’s that?’” Ridloff said while promoting her partnership with Prose. “I know.”
Ridloff did reveal, however, that her sister was a big Harry Styles fans and she worried that she would spoil his scene before anyone else. “Well, OK, I will say, my sister was a huge fan. At the time, she was working with us and had the opportunity to meet Harry Styles, so I was more concerned with my sister keeping her mouth shut about Harry. I mean, I have to say, I couldn’t believe she didn’t say one thing to one person, I’m so impressed with my sister.” While Ridloff, of course, knows who Styles is now, she doesn’t want him to know that wasn’t always the case. “Don’t tell Harry about that, please,” she joked.
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Styles played Eros, also known as Starfox, in Eternals. Eros is an Eternal, an immortal alien race created by the Celestials. Eros, who was originally named Eron, was born on the planet of Titan and is the son of two Eternals, A’lars (a.k.a. Mentor) and Sui-San. He is also the brother of Thanos (Josh Brolin). Unlike Thanos, who was mutated by the Deviant syndrome, Eros looks human and serves as a superhero under the name Starfox.
Eros’ main power is the ability to psychically control the emotions of others (or make them fall in love with him.) He also has superhuman strength, agility and durability, and the ability of flight. Eros, who was created by Marvel writer Jim Starlin (who also created characters like Drax the Destroyer, Gamora and Shang-Chi), first debuted in The Invincible Iron Man comics in February 1973. Since his debut, Eros has been a member of the Avengers, as well as the Dark Guardians. As for his personality, Eros’ lifestyle is described as “responsibility-free” and “self-indulgent,” according to Inverse.
Image: Courtesy of Marvel Studios.
Giant Freaking Robot reported in November 2021 that Styles had signed a five-movie deal with Marvel, including a possible solo film. “Harry Styles is set to become a major part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Audiences should expect to see a lot more of him,” the site reorted at the time. “He’s been talking to Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel, who promised big things for the actor’s future. A solo project for Starfox is a possibility on the table.” The site also claimed that Marvel planned to use Eros in a similar way to how Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury was used to form the Avengers in several of the MCU’s first solo movies. “It sounds like Harry Styles is being set up for a massive future in their cinematic universe, something comparable to Nick Fury’s many appearances,” the site reported.
Patton Oswalt, who played Eros’ assistant Pip the Troll, also confirmed in an interview on TODAY in August 2022 that an Eternals sequel is in the works at Marvel with the first movie’s director, Chloé Zhao. “They have announced there’s going to be an Eternals sequel. Chloé Zhao is going to direct it. So hopefully, there will be more adventures of Starfox and Pip,” he said.
Styles also commented on his future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in an interview with Rolling Stone in August 2022, where he didn’t confirm or deny that he would reprise his role as Eros. “It’d be funny if that was it, wouldn’t it?” he said. Styles did, however, confirm that he isn’t planning on starring on another movie in a while and wants to focus on his music. “I don’t imagine I’d do a movie for a while,” he said. “I think there’ll be a time again when I’ll crave it. But when you’re making music, something’s happening. It feels really creative, and it feeds stuff. A large part of acting is the doing nothing, waiting thing. Which if that’s the worst part, then it’s a pretty good job. But I don’t find that section of it to be that fulfilling. I like doing it in the moment, but I don’t think I’ll do it a lot.”
As for Lauren Ridloff, she is the first brand ambassador for the hair care brand, Prose, and is the face of the company’s new campaign, Curl Outside the Lines, which celebrates the launch of its first Custom Styling Gel. “Curl Outside the Lines, that campaign in itself aligns with my beliefs and how I approach everything in life. It’s all about celebrating our individuality and it’s about self expression and who you are. I’m so thrilled and honored to be a part of this campaign,” Ridloff told StyleCaster.
Ridloff also talked about what it was like to be represent the deaf community in a beauty campaign “I really don’t see my journey as the first deaf, but also being the ambassador to a community that’s important to me. Of course, it is honor to represent the deaf community on my own terms, and that also applies to Prose,” she said. “It’s such an honor to be the hair/face of that brand that celebrates differences and individuality.”
As for her own hair journey, Ridloff discussed how she came to love and embrace the natural texture of her hair. “I have to say it’s been a wild journey. I’ve definitely tripped so many times. As a biracial person, my family at first didn’t know at first what to do with my hair, so I had to learn on my own while I was going through that process,” she said. “I got to a point today as an adult where I’m wonderfully comfortable with my curls. I’m at this point in my life right now where I feel like my curls can’t do any wrong. They can be big. They can be small and tight. They can be frizzy. I love my curls and that’s something I hope can resonate to other people with curly hair. Just love who you are. Love your curls!”
She also recalled a moment when she was younger when she felt ashamed by her hair. “I do remember thinking that I had difficult hair and people who were dealing with my hair would always make that face like, ‘Your hair is so much work,’” she said. “If I decided to take my hair out of my braids, I wore pigtails a lot, they would say to me, ‘Your hair is just so out of control.’ I always felt like my hair was not behaving so that was definitely a big shift for me when I learned what resources I had. Now, I’ve seen so many more hair representation within media, which is wonderful. Just yesterday I was visiting my mom, and she was so happily pointing out people on TV who had hair just like mine. That definitely was not the case back then. I feel like there definitely is a shift that’s happening.”
Eternals is available to stream on Disney Plus. Watch Lauren Ridloff play Marvel trivia here.
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Image: Getty Images. Design: Sasha Purdy/STYLECASTER.