Louis Tomlinson has said he felt some “envy” when One Direction bandmate Harry Styles first started becoming successful as a solo artist.
The group was together for five years, during which time they released five albums, before disbanding in 2015 to pursue solo projects.
“When One Direction split up, I was mortified, I was absolutely gutted,” Tomlinson told The Times in a new interview. “I was a bit bitter, I suppose because it just felt like another loss to me. But I’ve a better understanding of things now, and there’s not as much anger. It is what it is.”
Tomlinson said it was hardly “a surprise” that Styles has become as successful as he has been. “We were always aware that Harry fit that mould, and it’s been an amazing thing to watch.
“Envy? At the start maybe, when I was trying to find my feet, but it’s never healthy to cross-reference your own success with others is it? These days I’m learning to elevate myself in those moments when I have to. I didn’t know how to do that before, but now? Now I know I fucking can.”
He was also asked to comment on Styles’ controversial acceptance speech at the Grammys, where he said that winning the awards “doesn’t happen to people like me very often”. “Only Harry knows what he means there… but we all came from relatively humble beginnings, and now we are where we are,” Tomlinson said.
Elsewhere, he said a reunion of the boyband was “hard to imagine right now” but didn’t rule out the possibility of one ever happening. “I’d be surprised if we lived out our lives and didn’t have a moment where we had a reunion, or whatever you want to call it. I’d be up for that.”
Tomlinson is currently gearing up to release a documentary film, All Of Those Voices. The film promises an “intimate and unvarnished” journey through Tomlinson’s life and career with never-before-seen home movie footage and behind-the-scenes access to his 2022 world tour. It will be released in select cinemas on March 22.
