Sufjan Stevens contributed three songs — “Mystery Of Love” and “Visions Of Gideon,” as well as a Doveman remix of “Futile Devices” — to the new Oscar-contender movie Call Me By Your Name. And according to Stevens himself, he could’ve had a larger role in the movie. As Pitchfork points out, Stevens tells Deadline that director Luca Guadagino offered to give Stevens more of a role in the movie. Initially, according to Stevens, Guadagino wanted him to do a voice-over and to appear in the movie, performing one of his songs. Here’s what Stevens says about it:

Initially, asked me to be the voice of the older Elio; to contribute that voiceover. He also asked if I wanted to appear in the movie as a bard, performing the song, almost as a break in the narrative. I got back to him and I said, “I think this voiceover is a mistake, and I think the interruption of me singing the song is a mistake.” I think he was just thinking out loud. I don’t know if he was really committed to the idea. So I said, “I’ll write you some songs, but that’s all I think you need from me.” And he agreed. When I saw the first edit, he said, “You were right, this doesn’t need a monologue or an interruption.”

Call Me By Your Name is out in theaters now. You can read the full interview with Stevens here.