Josh O’Connor is in conversations to appear in a new gay romance film, Separate Rooms, by Luca Guadagnino.

The romance is an adaptation of the titular novel by late Italian author Pier Vittorio Tondelli, who died of AIDS at the age of 36. The story “follows an Italian writer named Leo who is mourning the loss of his boyfriend.”

Variety has revealed that O’Connor is in discussions to play Leo after Guadagnino announced over the weekend to Italy’s La Repubblica that the filming is set to begin “soon”.

The book is divided into three parts written as “movements” and opens with Leo travelling to Munich to say goodbye to his former lover, a German pianist called Thomas. The book plots his mourning as he travels to the UK and US. Spliced with flashbacks and reflections, the pair’s first meeting in Paris is captured along with Thomas’s affair with a girl prior to his death.

O’Connor is currently filming a new queer romance The History of Sound, opposite All of Us Strangers star Paul Mescal. Directed by Oliver Hermanus, the film is based on the Pushcart Prize-winning novel from Ben Shattuck, a collection of 12 short stories that are set across three centuries and explores generational patterns of love and loss.

The title story follows two young men in the shadows of WWI who are determined to record the lives, voices and music of their American countrymen. Lionel (Mescal) and David (O’Connor) begin to log the events, whilst falling in love in the process.

In an interview with GAY TIMES on the first day of filming (28 February), Hermanus said they’re already “on fire” in the highly-anticipated gay romance: “I mean, they’re great friends and they get on. They love working together. This is their first time.”

The Crown star us about to appear in Guadagnino’s new drama Challengers, alongside Zendaya and Mike Faist.

O’Connor previously starred in the critically-acclaimed same-sex romantic drama God’s Own Country. The heartfelt love story follows a Yorkshire farmer (O’Connor) whose life changes with the arrival of a Romanian migrant farm hand named Gheorghe (Alec Secăreanu). Despite initial tension, the two soon become engaged in a passionate meet in nature.

O’Connor has since garnered acclaim for roles in Hope Gap, Emma and The Crown, where he won multiple awards for his portrayal of a young King Charles III, including a Critics Choice Award, Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe and SAG Award.