Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgard had no time to get to know each other before shooting their sexually explicit scenes for Pillion.
Big Little Lies star Skarsgard and former Harry Potter actor Melling - who played Dudley Dursley in the big screen franchise - portray biker gang leader Ray and the younger Colin, who explore a blossoming dominant/submissive relationship, in the new movie.
And although Skarsgard’s schedule prevented them from spending time together before filming began, Melling believes it provides authenticity to their characters.
He told Variety: “I had done a week of filming prior to when Alex flew in. We met on a Saturday, and on Sunday we rehearsed the wrestling scene. We basically jumped on each other and worked that out, into the intimate scene. Then on Monday, we started shooting. It really was: ‘bish, bash, bosh - here we go’.
“For my character especially, it was kind of incredible for that reason. Colin is always second-guessing Ray - how do I please this man? What does he want? Am I in the right place? All of those thoughts are constantly running through his head. The fact that we hadn’t had months beforehand to sit down and talk through how we’d play the roles or what backstories we’d each imagined was actually really useful. It meant that what we were discovering happened in real time, on set, in front of the camera. It was a happy accident - not by design at all, just a logistical necessity because Alex was away - but it worked.”
Although Melling is best known for his part in the family-friendly Harry Potter franchise, where he played Potter’s (Daniel Radcliffe) horrible cousin Dudley, he insisted he had no qualms about taking on the racy role in Pillion.
He said: “I kind of went in with no fear, to be honest. I think I would have been nervous if the sex scenes - or the more risky, out-there moments - weren’t grounded in the storytelling. If they’d just been interludes meant to be sexy, I think I would have felt quite nervous about that.
“But when I read the script, I always felt those scenes were genuinely pushing the narrative forward. They tell the story very intricately - Colin’s journey from inexperience to experience - and because they were so embedded in the narrative, they felt like a continuation of the acting process rather than a moment designed to create a ‘beautiful love scene,’ if you know what I mean.”
