Hi, Olly.

Hello, hi. [Laughs] I kind of woke up from a nap not long ago, so I’m trying to get back up. I’m in London at home.

I’m sorry to wake you.

[Laughs] It’s OK. I was planning to wake up anyway.

What time is it over there? I’m on west coast time.

It’s like, 5.30?

I imagine most pop stars nap during the day since they’re up late playing gigs, or partying hard. Did you perform last night?

No. It’s just rare to have a whole day off, and I’m just so tired.

Funny Bunny is one of the most bizarre movies I’ve seen in a long while (1). What did you make of it when you first read the script?

Well Alison [Bagnall] approached me about Funny Bunny almost six years ago. It was kind of a different project at the time, and we weren’t able to make that movie. And then a few years later, she asked again if I’d do it. She’d rewritten it, and I’d always loved the script. It’s wild. I was like: yep, sign me up. We ended up basically rewriting the whole thing again while we were shooting. It was like a mad project – and unlike anything I’ve ever done as an actor. That’s why I enjoyed it so much.

Was it you who fancied the name Titty? I’ve yet to meet someone named that.

I think Alison actually met somebody who called himself Titty – or had that nickname, because he was so into breasts. So she just used it! She lifted it right out of real life.

In the film, Titty falls for someone he meets on the web. Did you ever try the online thing before meeting your beau (2)?

I’ve actually never done that. I’ve never met guys that way. But I can really see the appeal of it, and I think it’s probably the way I expect now the majority of people try it. I think you can have positive, healthy relationships that way.

You’re telling me you’ve never downloaded Tinder to give it try?

No. I feel like I missed out a little bit. I feel kind of uncomfortable about being on a dating app, because I’m a little less trustful of people. I would have to be anonymous or something. [Laughs]

About that anonymity. When I saw you in The Dish and the Spoon (3) a few years back, you were just this indie actor. But now thanks to your band, every teenage girl in the UK knows who you are. What’s that transition been like for you?

Well, I don’t think you can really ever expect what the kind of sudden level of attention feels like. Also, because we went from being a relatively obscure band to just doing so much so quickly. Travelling around the world, and all those things.

I still feel like I haven’t really gained any perspective on it. It’s mostly been fun, actually – really fun.

In the States you’re considered to be an indie act, but in the UK and in Europe, you’re like the male Spice Girls. Is that weird?

No. [Laughs] Obviously it’s different in the UK, because I’m from the UK, and we’ve done well here. But when you start touring, and you go to different countries, and some of the countries you’re playing to 5,000 people, and then you go to another and you play to 1,000 people. It’s kind of mind-boggling. We’re really big in Poland! I don’t know how it works.

In America we thought we were nobody. But when we toured there, the shows were so good, it just felt like – all the people who came to the show discovered the album not because of Top 40 radio or whatever. They came because they loved it.

How has fronting a successful band changed you as an actor? You’re essentially performing while doing both jobs.

Well, I haven’t done any acting since the end of 2012.

Oh, wow. You’ve had films come out since then, so to us you’re still acting.

It’s been a while, basically. I don’t really remember if I can act or not. I’d be terrified if I had to do it now. I definitely feel a bit more like, the show must go on mantra you have to sometimes use. But yeah, nah, I have no idea! [Laughs]

Do you want to act again?

Yeah, I don’t really have any time to act right now. I’m busy with the band for the next 12 months. But I’d love to do something cool and get the opportunity to work with some cool people … if I can still act.

Your film career is very eclectic. You’ve done period British dramas, worked with Gaspar Noé, and did a slew of American indies. Back when you were acting full time, what made you go after such a wide range of projects?

For the first five years as an actor, I just pretty much took the work that I was offered. I was pretty lucky that only kind of weird directors or weird movies wanted to hire me. And then when I sort of got busier, you just do what you think could be fun.

Was making Enter the Void (4) any fun? That movie is dark as hell.

Yeah, well in hindsight it was this amazing, fun experience. I learned so much. But at the time it was really terrifying and quite hard. I was 17 and had never really done a film before, or been away from home. I was in Tokyo going out and getting wasted underage. I was trying to be an adult, but I was a complete child. It was a very transformative experience for me. Gaspar is kind of crazy. Our call time would get later and later and later – Gaspar would be out shooting, and then he’d go to a party and be out till midday the next day. I was like: what’s going on?

Your co-star from that film, Paz de la Huerta (5), is also known to enjoy a party.

She’s definitely a force of nature, but also I remember she wrote me a lot of self-help tips. Like what kind of therapy I should get. When we first started filming, we spent a lot time together. One morning she gave me this piece of paper and she scribbled on it with these pointed affirmations. I just thought that was really sweet. I still have that piece of paper.

Is it true you were invited to join your band when someone heard you sing in the shower?

It’s sort of true. I had a party in my house, and then Mikey [Goldsworthy], the bassist, stayed over; and then next morning he heard me in the shower. But I had already asked to join the band – I had already muscled my way in. And now it’s just a story we have to tell everyone. [Laughs] It’s like Pitch Perfect.

What was the song?

I think it was Killing Me Softly [6]. That sounds good in the shower.

Do you still sing in the shower?

Not so much actually any more. Also my bathroom at the moment, it’s like standing in a bathtub having a shower. I’d need a bigger shower. I sing all the time – I should probably give it a break.

Footnotes:

(1) Funny Bunny stars Alexander as Titty, an emotionally arrested 19-year-old who has successfully sued his own father to win back a large inheritance, getting himself disowned in the process. The film follows his friendship with Gene, a guy who spends his days canvassing about childhood obesity. The film marks Alexander’s second collaboration with writer-director Alison Bagnall, who last worked with the actor on The Dish and the Spoon.

(2) Alexander is in a relationship with Clean Bandit’s violinist Neil Milan Amin-Smith. The couple met while touring together in October 2014.

(3) Also starring Greta Gerwig, it was described as a “mournful indie gem” by the New York Times.

(4) Barking mad and technically stunning life-after-death opus. Our Peter Bradshaw said: “Some may find Enter the Void detestable and objectionable, though if they affect to find it ‘boring’ I will not believe them.”

(5) Actor currently suing the director of Nurse 3D, who claimed starring in the horror turkey ruined her career.

(6) First recorded by Lori Lieberman and made famous by Roberta Flack (and whose full title is Killing Me Softly With His Song), this song was supposedly inspired by Lieberman’s reaction to a song by Don McLean, Empty Chairs. The Fugees retitled it Killing Me Softly, added a rap and turned it into a huge international hit – the biggest-selling single of 1996 in the UK.