Alexander Skarsgård and His ‘Pillion’ Costar Got Acquainted Wearing ‘Buttless Singlets’

Alexander Skarsgård and Pillion costar Harry Melling got intimately acquainted early on while making their new movie.

In the dark romantic comedy-drama, True Blood alum Skarsgård, 49, plays tough biker Ray, who enters into a dominant-submissive relationship with Colin (Melling), a shy and directionless man who sings in a barbershop quartet.

In a new interview with W Magazine for its Best Performances Portfolio, Skarsgård recalled how he and former Harry Potter franchise star Melling, 36, “met two days before we started shooting.”

“There’s a big wrestling scene in the film, and we met rehearsing that. It was great to get to know each other in our little buttless singlets,” he added.

Skarsgård told the outlet he was intrigued from the moment he started reading the story from writer-director Harry Lighton and based on the 2020 book Box Hill: A Story of Low Self-Esteem by Adam Mars-Jones.

“I thought it was going to be more of a sub/dom story than a rom-com, but it was also sweet and tender. The initial description was: ‘Colin, a wallflower, goes on a date with Ray, the enigmatic leader of a bike gang, and it’s the beginning of a strange relationship.’ I was hooked from the first page of the script.”

During the film’s press tour, the actor has leaned into the biker and BDSM theme for his appearances.

“I was inspired by the guys in the film. The GBMCC, Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club in the U.K., whose members are in the film, came to the premiere in Cannes wearing their gear, including their harnesses,” said Skarsgård. 

“One guy brought his pup mask. It just felt boring showing up in a regular black tuxedo. I wanted to bring a little leather to the carpet.”

During his appearance at the Zurich Film Festival last October, Skarsgård — who shares one child with Swedish actress Tuva Novotny — donned a silk shirt from Italian fashion label Magliano, featuring images of dildos, paper towels, lubricants and a cracked cellphone.

Skarsgård has previously opened up about the movie’s subject matter — which doesn’t typically get mainstream movie treatment in Hollywood. 

“This felt like an opportunity to tell a story about a subculture I hadn’t seen portrayed this way – with so much authenticity,” he said after a screening at the Zurich Film Festival.

Pillion will be released in theaters on Friday, Feb. 6.