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Pillion Director Explains Decision To Cut This X-Rated Scene From BDSM Biker Romance Movie

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The director of the much-hyped romance Pillion has shed some light on why one particularly X-rated scene was cut from the new movie.

Earlier this year, the BDSM-themed biker movie was a stand-out when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and quickly became one of the most talked-about films of the year, which its leading man Alexander Skarsgård has capitalised on with some excellent red carpet looks channeling his character Ray.

Pillion also stars Harry Melling – best known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies – who plays introverted Colin, a “wallflower” who quickly gets swept up in Ray’s exciting and mysterious world when he becomes his sub.

Audiences gave the film an eight-minute standing ovation when it premiered, with critics honing in on its balance of humour, emotional vulnerability and bold sexual scenes.

Its director, Harry Lighton, previously spoke about one such sex scene that didn’t make the final cut, explaining that he axed it so the audience didn’t end up “feeling they were being deliberately shocked by an image”.

The image in question was “one close up of a dick, a hard dick … like down the barrel of the lens” which he considered a bit much when he saw it on the giant cinematic screen.

Now, the filmmaker has added more context to the cut scene in a new interview with the Guardian, getting straight to the point.

“Originally, there was a closeup of Ray’s bell-end,” he said. “But it would have punctured the tension and raised a laugh.”

Despite the raunchy content, Alexander has previously insisted his dad – award-winning Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård – gave Pillion his stamp of approval after they sat down together to watch the film.

He also thinks his mum will be a fan, insisting in the new interview: “We never wanted to pander to straight audiences but I also think my mum’s gonna like the film. We didn’t make it for her but she can enjoy it.”

Not quite Downton with a cup of tea and a digestive, but we respect it…

Pillion is due to hit UK cinemas on Friday 28 November.

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Alexander Skarsgård Opens Up About What Makes The Sex Scenes In His New BDSM Biker Romance So Unique

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Alexander Skarsgård has opened up about his new film Pillion, and how the movie’s much-hyped sex scenes differ from other projects he’s appeared in over the years.

The Emmy winner’s latest film features Harry Potter actor Harry Melling as Colin, a young man who embarks on a BDSM relationship with a biker gang leader, Ray, played by Alexander. Pillion became one of the Cannes Film Festival’s most talked-about films when it premiered earlier this year, not least because of its unique premise and graphic sexual content.

Speaking to Variety about making the film in an interview published earlier this week, Alexander reflected on how he and Harry worked with intimacy coordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt to ensure that these sex scenes felt real in their awkwardness.

“We wanted it to be clumsy and weird,” he explained. “On screen, [sex] often looks like a ballet, but [it] can be awkward and funny.”

“I often find sex on screen quite boring,” he continued. “Usually, all the tension is leading up to that moment, and then once people are in the sack…”

Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling at a photo-call for their film Pillion at this year's Cannes Film Festival
Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling at a photo-call for their film Pillion at this year’s Cannes Film Festival

via Associated Press

Alexander went on to praise director Harry Lighton, who he said “didn’t put on silk gloves to tell this story” and instead “embraced the awkwardness” of the sex sequences between the two central characters.

Critics have already been full of praise for the sex scenes in Pillion, with Vanity Fair hailing the film as “frank, kinky [and] utterly idiosyncratic” and The Daily Beast describing it as “quite possibly the sexiest movie at Cannes this year, that’s also delightfully tender”.

And while Pillion certainly doesn’t shy away from sex, orgies or scenes of BDSM, Alexander also thinks the director approached these themes in a “beautiful” way rather than leaning into shock value.

“I think my mum will like this movie,” the True Blood star insisted. “[Even though] it’s about kinky gay bikers and a D/s relationship, [it’s] portrayed with the perfect amount of respect, but not too much respect.”

And as much as Pillion’s sex scenes have so far dominated conversation around the film, it turns out the movie is not nearly as graphic as it could have been.

The Big Little Lies star noted: “The sex scenes weren’t graphic for the sake of being graphic. We shot way more graphic stuff than you’ve seen just now.”

Earlier this year, director Harry Lighton told Variety during another interview that more daring sex scenes in Pillion had been cut so the audience didn’t end up “feeling they were being deliberately shocked by an image”.

“There was one close up of a dick, a hard dick … like down the barrel of the lens. And after watching the film on that ‘fuck-off’ screen I thought, yeah, cutting it was probably the right decision!” he quipped.

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