Alexander Skarsgård, Harry Melling, and director Harry Lighton say this real-life biker gang was instrumental in grounding the movie.

What a gay biker gang taught Alexander Skarsgård and Pillion team about lube, boot licking, and orgies

Alexander Skarsgård, Harry Melling, and director Harry Lighton say this real-life biker gang was instrumental in grounding the movie.

By Mike Miller

Mike Miller

Mike Miller is the executive editor on the movies team at . He previously worked as a writer-reporter for PEOPLE and TMZ.

EW's editorial guidelines

February 6, 2026 5:03 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård in 'Pillion'. Credit:

- *Pillion *writer-director Harry Lighton spent time with a gay biker gang as research for the film.

- Harry Melling, who stars as Colin, also spent a day with the group, who taught him, among other things, the proper way to lick a boot.

- Alexander Skarsgård also recalls the real-life bikers, some of whom appear in the film, offering advice on the proper lube to use for a forest orgy.

If you're going to make a movie about a gay biker gang, you have to go straight to the source.

Such was the case for Harry Lighton, who makes his feature directorial debut with *Pillion*, starring Alexander Skarsgård as the hottest, most emotionally unavailable member of a local gay biker gang, who enters into a BDSM relationship with Harry Melling's Colin, a sweet, nebbish parking cop unfamiliar with the dom-sub dynamic.

During his research, Lighton, who adapted the screenplay from the 2020 novel *Box Hill* by Adam Mars-Jones, spent a weekend with members of the London-based Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club (GBMCC) — some of whom ended up appearing in and advising on the film.

"The weekend was amazing," Lighton tells * *of his time with the gang. "I felt very lucky. I went off up to Birmingham, and there were about 100 of them gathered there, and they were incredibly generous in not only letting me ride on the back of a motorbike, but also sharing their stories with me, sharing what they thought they'd want to see in a film or wouldn't want to see in a film."

Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgard in 'Pillion'.

After that weekend, Lighton says, "I was like, 'Well, why would I wanna cast people, and try to find actors and dress them up in a way which would make them convincing when I have a hundred versions of the real thing in front of me to choose from?'"

So, he sent out a casting call asking members to send in a one-minute video of themselves. "We got loads and loads of responses. And they weren't in the film in the sense that we just cast them, and it stopped there. They would have conversations with me about what they could bring to their characters, which would bring them authenticity."

As for what they suggested, Lighton says that, while "it's hard to recall specific examples," he remembers one member saying "it would be interesting to show chastity as part of the kink world." That's why one of the bikers is wearing a "cock cage" in the film.

Alexander Skarsgård talks 'Pillion,' viral Pedro Pascal moment, and BDSM

Alexander Skarsgård is a dom motorcycle daddy in first 'Pillion' trailer

They were also "quite specific about what leathers they wanted to wear and what bikes they wanted to ride, and what having that bike would say about the character. They wanted to get those kinds of details right."

The sex scenes were another area where their expertise came in handy. "I remember the lube which we had on set, one of them was like, 'This lube is so not what you'd have if you were having an orgy in the woods.' And so we changed the lube. It was those kinds of details that they really brought lots of specificity to."

Skarsgård also remembers the lube advice. "They were incredibly generous with their time and patience and talking us through everything, and tonally how to play the characters down to details of the orgy scene. Like, you know, what kind of lube are you supposed to use? They were definitely instrumental in creating the authenticity.**

Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård in 'Pillion'.

Courtesy of A24

Before they were cast in the movie, Melling spent a full day with some of the bikers to prepare to play Colin. "We did this big bike ride up to Cambridge from London, which is about an hour and a half long," he says. "It was my first time riding pillion, which was absolutely f---ing terrifying. We landed at Pride, and I got introduced to not just members of the GBMCC, but some members of a kink gang."

He adds, "They were unbelievably generous in terms of offering insight and teaching me what a good boot lick might be and how you'd go about it."

Then, having the bikers on set provided a living resource for any questions that popped up along the way. "I think it really grounded the movie, and it made sure that if ever myself, Harry, or Alex had a question about how you would lean over a trestle table before an orgy scene...we had the answers on hand."

*Pillion* is now playing in theaters.**

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Drama”