I Can’t Stop Thinking About The Interview With Louis This Morning And One Of The Things That Keeps

I can’t stop thinking about the interview with Louis this morning and one of the things that keeps striking me, is the kindness. The fact Nick clearly planned something which would make Louis feel at ease. If you look at the first pictures, that’s Nick’s smile when he knows he’s going to play the clip where Niall says how important Louis was to the band. Nick KNOWS it’s a lovely clip, and he’s smiling like he’s looking forward to playing it for Louis and hearing it again himself.

Then look at how it makes Louis react. An uncontrollable smile, sweeping his hair back, sitting back in his chair, trying (and failing) to hide how chuffed he is and how happy it makes him feel. Leaning forwards and over the mic to listen, looking up at Nick as if to acknowledge that yeah, it’s nice to hear that and the smile’s back again. What’s Nick doing this whole time? Look at the next picture where Nick’s clearly stretched up in his chair and then at the one above where Louis looks up and he’s clearly making eye contact. Nick’s watching Louis react to every moment. The final screen grabs are from Nick saying how good he thought the Observer piece was when Louis brings it up. Louis says he hopes it was okay and Nick confirms, yes, really good and there’s Louis - proud as punch, completely at ease. 

Nick makes some bad jokes sometimes and he has an odd sense of humour that can jar with people, but the more I watch this interview, the more I appreciate that he was fundamentally kind and encouraging towards someone who might seem mouthy but who has been proven to have much more self-doubt and complexity than some people gave him credit for. Nick is so, so good at what he does. I already knew it, but this interview definitely showed Nick’s talent for making people feel welcome and at ease, as well as Nick’s thoughtfulness and empathy which hits me right in the feels.