IT’S NOT EASY BEING A SUB. FROM HANGING OUT WITH BIKER CLUBS TO LEARNING HOW TO BEND OVER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS, IT’S HARD WORK – HEAVY ON THE HARD. JUST ASK HARRY MELLING, WHO, FRESH OFF THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED (AND BTB FAVOURITE) DOM-COM PILLION, HAD TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT ALL. THANKFULLY, IT’S NOTHING HE COULDN’T HANDLE. AFTER ALL, MELLING IS AN ACTOR WITH OVER TWO DECADES IN THE INDUSTRY. EVEN IF HIS PREVIOUS ROLES INVOLVED PLAYING A DETECTIVE OR LEARNING CHESS RATHER THAN LICKING BOOTS, A SKILL IS A SKILL, AND MELLING IS ALWAYS IN PURSUIT OF MORE. HE LEAVES HIS ROLES WITH NEW TRICKS, YES, BUT ALSO WITH SOMETHING DEEPER: A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HIMSELF. WE CATCH UP WITH THE ACTOR TO TALK WRESTLING SCENES, THE BENEFITS OF BEING A CHILD ACTOR, AND THE GAY BIKERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB.

Left Coat and pants **Courrèges**, collar **Wooyoungmi**, jacket **Calvin Klein**, jewellery **Cartier**
Right Full look **MM6**

I watched Pillion recently, and it was my favourite movie of last year! It utilises a niche language to map out a very human need for affection. How were you first pitched the project?

I think you're right. When I finished reading the script for the first time, my main thought was how Harry Lighton, the director-writer, managed to write something that is quite confronting but that still feels incredibly warm and full of hope. When we leave Colin at the end of the movie, we’re not worried about his future. It felt very unique. It’s like you said, we all crave affection, we all crave love, we all crave feeling wanted.

Shirt **Giorgio Armani**, jewellery **Cartier**

Again, it’s such a specific subculture being represented. How did you navigate that niche aspect of the role?

Very early on, I was put in touch with the GBMCC, the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club. I started hanging out with them; that was the best way of learning how people express themselves within this culture. It’s complex. The GBMCC is not a kink organisation. There's crossover, of course. There are pups, for example, that don pup masks, but there are also people that just like to ride bikes, you know? So, it's a real broad spectrum. Very early on, I went on this pilgrimage on the back of a bike for the first time. I went up to Cambridge, went to Pride there, it was fantastic. I cannot tell you how unbelievably generous they were with me, telling me their stories, their experiences, teaching me the technique to lick boots.

Left Jacket, top and pants **Louis Vuitton**, brooch and watch **Cartier**
Right Coat, sweater pants and jacket as scarf **Givenchy**, shoes **Jimmy Choo**, belt stylist’s own

Is it complicated?

There are layers of technique upon technique, Pedro. Licking boots is a fine art. It also helped that Harry cast the majority of the biker group from GBMCC. So, if there was a moment where we needed to know how to authentically lean over a table in an orgy, they could tell us. The icing on the cake was that they all went to Cannes. It was the most perfect way to introduce the movie to the world, with them front and centre.

You can sense that respect in the movie; their culture isn’t being exploited. That felt so special.

It's very important that we were never laughing at Colin. We were laughing with him in the situation. He's finding himself and trying to navigate this new territory. It's the situation that's funny, and the fact that Colin is who he is in this situation, but we're never poking fun at him…