Paul Mescal Talks Intimate Scenes with Josh O’Connor in ‘History of Sound’ (Exclusive)

Paul Mescal is explaining how his off-screen friendship with Josh O’Connor affected their on-screen chemistry in their new romantic drama, The History of Sound.

“Platonic relationships and romantic relationships, I think they actually live quite close to each other,” Mescal, 29, tells PEOPLE at The History of Sound‘s New York City premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 2, when asked how he and O’Connor, 35, approached playing characters who become friends — and then grow romantically entwined — in the new movie.

“I love Josh. We’ve been in that position before,” Mescal says of portraying relationships on screen. “We know what is required when you’re having to do sexual intimacy. We did have an intimacy coordinator, but also we just fundamentally trust [each other].”

The History of Sound, which also stars Chris Cooper, follows O’Connor and Mescal as two young men who meet while studying music in Boston in the 1910s. The pair fall in love after they bond over their music, and the movie follows both characters’ lives after they first meet.

But as Mescal tells PEOPLE, the movie does not focus on their physical relationship. “The film is not about sex. The film is about love and actual real connection,” he says. “If you’re looking for a salacious, sexy drama, this isn’t the one for you. This is about intellectual and artistic stimulation, and of course, love.

The History of Sound is directed by Oliver Hermanus and written by Ben Shattuck, based on Shattuck’s own short stories. At the movie’s N.Y.C. premiere, Mescal tells PEOPLE that his longstanding friendship with O’Connor “didn’t make things awkward” even as they embarked on making a romantic film together.

“Because the subject matter is generally quite heavy, me and Josh, for whatever reason it was, we just kind of rallied against that as much as we could,” Mescal says. “It was pretty light off set. It’s like one of the best jobs in the world, when you get paired with a friend of yours already that you admire so much. I think Josh is, hands down, one of the best actors working today. It’s kind of like a summer camp, getting to hang out with your friend and watch him be as brilliant as he is. So it was fun.”

When asked if making the movie together brought the two actors closer together, Mescal says, “It did.”

The actor adds, “I think we entered the filming process knowing each other very well, and then at the end of it, it just was the perfect junction that we entered into that because we had so much room to go when we started filming that we really got incredibly close afterwards.”

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The History of Sound is in theaters Sept. 12.