Harry Melling Sheds His Past in the "Dom-Com" of the Year

Warning: Mild spoilers for Pillion below.

Harry Melling was initially drawn to Pillion for one reason: his character’s bravery. In director Harry Lighton’s debut feature, Melling stars as Colin, a slightly awkward gay man who stumbles into a BDSM relationship with motorcycle-riding dom Ray (Alexander Skarsgård) and discovers a world that both fascinates and bewilders him. “When we meet Colin, he’s at this precipice of wanting his life to happen,” the actor tells W. “Then he meets Ray, and we watch him struggle to understand [this world] while being wonderfully behind it. That’s what really attracted me. He’s a combination of very brave and very curious.”

Colin is certainly a far cry from Harry Potter’s Dudley Dursley, the role that made a then-10-year-old Melling famous at the turn of the millennium. But the actor, who’s spent the ensuing two and a half decades working with everyone from the Coen Brothers to Gina Prince-Bythewood, immediately fell in love with Lighton’s take on what’s been playfully labeled a dom-com. “The script was so wonderfully drawn,” he says. “I really understood the nuances of Colin, so I pretty much said to Harry Lighton, ‘I really want to do this,’ and we went from there.”

You got your start as a child actor in one of the most successful young-adult fantasy franchises in the world, and since then, you’ve explored many genres, from action to drama. How did it feel to step into the rom-com lane?

I’ve always been one of those actors who want to mix it up and not get stuck or known for doing only one thing. But it’s interesting. A lot of people do call this a romantic comedy—and it is in a lot of ways—but I never really entered this story thinking that way. I think it takes on rom-com tropes and somewhat subverts them.

Harry Lighton said he chose you for Colin because he admired your ability to command the screen in a “non-alpha” way. That energy is crucial for Colin, who is incredibly passive but must still carry the film. How did you find that balance?

One of the fears I had for this character was, Oh, this won’t work if I’m too passive. If I’m not doing anything on the screen, then the audience just won’t care. Then, I realized that Colin is constantly receiving information. Although receiving is quite passive, what is active is him processing it. He was trying to be part of this world but didn’t quite know how, so the golden stuff was watching him compute and try to understand it. Although he’s not really taking up space, in [his head], there’s a lot going on.

I love that Pillion isn’t your typical queer story, especially when it comes to Colin’s parents, who don’t seem to have any problem with their son’s queerness. (In fact, they’re almost too invested in his gay dating life.) The scenes with them are also some of the funniest. What was it like forming that picture of a happy, supportive family?

Douglas [Hodge] and Lesley [Sharp], who play my mum and dad, are just amazing. As the story progresses, in a weird way, it’s almost doing the reverse of what the natural arc would be. The parents start to worry about this relationship. They go from acceptance to questioning, when it’s usually the other way around.

This movie wouldn’t work if you and Alexander Skarsgård couldn’t make your dom-sub dynamic feel real. How did you establish that bond with him?

When Alex came [to set], we immediately rehearsed the wrestling scene. We literally shook hands and just jumped on each other. It was actually the perfect way to introduce ourselves and establish how we were going to work. Not having a lot of opportunity to rehearse or discuss was great because it meant we were discovering those moments in real time. Alex wants to play, and like all good actors, he will change stuff up all the time. Our scenes were always in some kind of movement. As an actor, you want the camera to catch something that is hopefully alive and real.

It becomes clear that Ray is not really a “good” dom. There are some blurred lines of consent in how he treats Colin, which seems to go against the typical BDSM norms of established rules and boundaries. Why do you think Colin is so willing to turn a blind eye to Ray’s rather worrisome red flags?

I’ll talk about the alley scene, which is sort of their first [sexual] interaction. Colin is way out of his depth here. He doesn’t know the rules of engagement, while Ray is very clear and knows what he wants. But when Ray asks, “What am I going to do with you?” Colin says, “Anything you want, really.” So there is consent there.

But the gray area is interesting. As you said, you can never really argue that Ray is a “responsible dom” on any level. But it’s not as if Colin feels abused. He knows the destination he wants to get to and that, somehow, being in this dynamic is going to help him. Ray is gifting Colin the opportunity to understand what love means to him. It never feels exploitative or toxic, because Colin is optimistically in. He wants something out of this situation as much as Ray does. Even at the end of the alleyway scene, when he’s got the cum on his face and is watching Ray, there’s this big smile on his face. It’s so important to have in the back of your mind that, for Colin, this is thrilling. It’s kind of scary, but it’s also kind of amazing.

Pillion is a film about a sexual subculture that many have misconceptions about. Did you feel a responsibility to get the nuances of this world right?

Absolutely. That was so important. The Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club was pivotal in making this movie. They were very involved in the research phase. And when I heard that Harry Lighton wanted to cast some of the members in the movie, I thought that was the perfect way of honoring what we’re all trying to do. So when they watched it at Cannes and seemed happy, that was the biggest validation I could’ve ever had because, in lots of ways, we made this movie for them.

Given the subject matter, are you surprised by how well-received the film has been?

The simple answer is yes. But what I’m constantly reminded of is just how relatable a story it is. I think the unfamiliar parts are fascinating and intriguing and make people want to lean in. But the familiar parts allow an audience to hook into what it’s doing. That combination is probably why it’s been able to have this incredible moment.

Pillion is now playing in limited theaters and opens in wide release on February 20.