Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling reveal the hardest part of making the hot, queer romance 'Pillion'

I watched the film for the third time this morning

Wow. Yeah, it's honestly, who needs coffee? It's a good breakfast film

You know what I mean? My partner hadn't seen it yet and just kind of kept coming in and chuckling

It was a really lovely morning. But I wanted to talk about what is more challenging

the wrestling scene or singing in this movie for both of you

100% singing. If you watch a movie, it's pretty obvious that I'm struggling there

I'm really struggling. Yeah, that wasn't acting. um singing yeah absolutely and that doing the barbershop stuff is actually it's really really

difficult that probably took the most amount of work um just getting all those harmonies together

wrestling was a piece of cake it doesn't look like a piece of cake but i know like singing can be so

hard and then also especially when you guys sing together in that scene like what i think is so

interesting is everyone's talking about the nudity and the sex scenes and totally totally but there's also an exposing yourself in this kind of that moment in a relationship where you allow yourself to look uncool to the person, that risk of being earnest

I'd love to talk to you guys about what it was like to live in those moments, especially for you, Harry, because your character spends a lot of time in those moments

Yeah, he spends the majority of the movie in those sort of moments. I loved it. I love playing characters who are playing catch up with the world, with the story

a lot of Colin's journey I think is him second guessing where he's at and trying to please

Ray and I found that a lot of fun to play with

I think you're right it is quite for some people even talking to friends about

it it's quite an exposing place to put yourself in as an actor but I kind of loved it

And for you? I quite enjoyed the day off the spin on kind of like

a rom-com trope the montage of the couple falling in love, but it happened towards the third act

as opposed to end of first. And it was, I thought it was an interesting

it was kind of important in that moment that Ray, he obviously knows that he can't sing

but it didn come very natural to me But he leans into it obviously in that moment because it an area where Colin can excel

and feel like he's teaching Ray something or he's actually better at Ray at something

because so much of their relationship is like, obviously, Ray controlling and dominating

and calling, learning from Ray. so that was a way for Ray to kind of give back a little

or show like this is good for your development and for calling to feel like it's actually

oh this is something I'm pretty good at and I can maybe not teach Ray something

but like it feels good to be good at something. Well I'm also curious because there's a lot of conversations

around intimacy coordinators and you guys do a lot of intimate scenes in this but you've also done intimate scenes in past films

I'm curious for people who, this is just a discussion they read about online, what is the difference for you when you're doing a scene like the ones in the film

and you have an intimacy coordinator versus older films or TV shows you've done

where that wasn't necessarily something? For this one, Robbie, our intimacy coordinator

he was kind of integral to the narrative and the storytelling. So it wasn't, for me at least, so much about making sure that I felt comfortable

with the amount of nudity or with the intimacy with Harry, that came natural

Like, I felt very early on that, like, this is a very safe environment

I felt creatively very safe with Harry Lighten, our director, the whole crew, and with Harry

So I never felt like I needed that support. It was more about having Robbie Taylor Hunt

help us shape the scenes. All the sex scenes are integral to the storytelling, integral to Colin, Harry's character's development

And Robert was really good at these are all pivotal moment. Again, first , first orgasm, first sexual intercourse

And a lot happens in those scenes, even like in the origin of the woods

There like a lot of it like a power play between these two billions jealousy and so there a lot to pack into those sex scenes And Robert was terrific at helping us shape those scenes

And how do we tell this story the best way, where it's like sometimes very graphic

but also not gratuitous or like it serves a purpose. So he was integral to that for sure

Yeah, he was amazing. He was really, yeah, really amazing. I think what was so exciting about getting to those scenes when we shot them was just, like Alex said, just how much narrative was held in them

You know, they weren't just there to, you know, be a cheap thrill

It really sort of housed a lot of story. And so Robbie was just tremendous in shaping that and helping us mark those story beats

So, yeah. Yeah, it's an incredibly romantic film. I've been recommending it because, as you guys know, Heat of Rivalry is huge

Everyone's talking about Heat of Rivalry. everyone's talking about what next and I'm like look Pillian actually has a lot in common with Heated Rivalry

it's more kinky but like a lot of the beats actually are similar but I'm curious for you guys

because a big conversation that's come up around Heated Rivalry is kind of

who gets to tell queer stories and who are they for and I'm curious what your thought process

is on that because I know it's something you've come across a little bit in promoting the film I haven't seen Heated Rivalry

in the UK I think it's out I think maybe you've just got it

I think we've just got it so I actually don't know much about Heated Rivalry yet

in terms of queer stories who has the right to present those stories to the world

I'm a big believer in actors being actors I think that we're storytellers

and I think that it's important to if it's not something that is close to you

that you investigate it and work out what it is and try and understand how you connect with these stories

But I do believe that hopefully the industry is better when it's not strict and limited

and rigid in terms of who can do what. I think having that freedom to play and freedom to understand different communities that you might not be so well aware of or vice versa is really important to the creative world And for you Alex No I agree And I think I wouldn have been drawn to

this had Harry not consulted with people from the community. They were members of GBMCC

the Gay Biker Motorcycle Club, and a couple of guys from the London King scene were very involved

when Harry was writing the screenplay and shaping it. And they're obviously, like the guys in the movie, are members of GBMCC or the London King scene

And that was very important to me because I wouldn't have been drawn to this had it been

because it's about a very specific subculture. It has to be done respectfully and with them involved

To me, that doesn't mean that everyone on set has to be part of that community

I think that limits us creatively a lot if we set the parameter there, you know

But again, it has to be done. What I think Harry did so well in the script is, like, it's done in a respectful way

but not, he's still able to have fun with it and show the awkwardness of these

and the complexity of these individuals. Sometimes it's a bit, you put on the silk gloves

when you tell stories about subcultures and it gets a bit like, well, they're all fantastic

What I loved about this is like, no, there's a complexity to them and you see that hopefully in the film

and I thought that was very important to tell it that way

What is a first romantic movie you remember really feeling swooned by

Tootsie. I love that. Yeah, I love that film. And that was my first crush

Jessica Lange and Tootsie. Ooh, baby. Ooh, yeah. Yeah. I remember, like

as a kid watching, I was like, what is happening? I'm feeling these strange feelings

I want to keep watching her. Of course. What film that I

I mean, I love When Harry Met Sally. That's one of my all-time favourite rom-coms. I think it's exquisite on all fronts, so that one