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As Jake Shears was recently between stops in Glasgow and Bournemouth on a UK/Ireland arena tour, moviegoers were watching his titillating onscreen debut in the South of France.

Deadline caught up with the Scissor Sisters frontman following the Cannes premiere of Pillion, writer-director Harry Lighton‘s feature debut that sets a heartbreaking love story within a queer BDSM biker gang, featuring a supporting performance from Shears as sexual submissive Kevin.

“I’m wiped, but I’m happy,” said Shears over Zoom from his UK home, one day after wrapping up the tour that reunited the band after a 13-year hiatus. Meanwhile, Scissor Sisters is preparing to embark on The Tits Out Tour on July 1 in support of co-headliner Kesha’s album Period.

After co-founding the pop rock group 25 years ago and releasing solo music during the hiatus, Shears made his Broadway debut in Kinky Boots back in 2017 and most recently played the Emcee in the West End’s revival of Cabaret in 2023, paving the way for his onscreen acting career.

But nothing could prepare him for the NSFW nature of his first film role, which culminates in a picnic tabletop orgy scene with Alexander Skarsgård‘s Ray, the elusive dom and romantic opposite of Harry Melling‘s timid sub, Colin. Although Lighton has teased more explicit shots were left on the cutting-room floor, audiences got an eyeful and Shears got a mouthful with Ray’s pierced prosthetic phallus.

“Well, my jaw was kind of on the floor, reading it,” said Shears of the scene. “I sort of couldn’t believe it, but it was really exciting for me when I was reading the script. It’s a movie about sex and sexual dynamics and dynamics of love. When I read it, I was really expecting it to be something dark, and what I was so pleasantly surprised by is the warmth and the humor that’s in the movie. And to me, that sort of blended with the more explicit stuff in the film. I loved that combination when I was reading it. And when I read the script for the first time, it really made me smile, it made me sad, it’s heartbreaking. It’s got all of these different feelings in it, and it just was not what I expected. And when I read the orgy scene in the script, I was just like, ‘Oh my God.'”

Although Shears’ acting debut is quite the unconventional role, he takes every inch of it like a champ (pun fully intended). Explicit sex scenes and piercings aside, the Grammy-nominated artist seamlessly loses himself in the film’s tense relationship dynamics while shedding light on the BDSM culture captured in the source material, Adam Mars-Jones’ 2020 novel Box Hill.

“All the guys in the movie are the real deal,” he noted of the film’s biker gang. “So I was reading The Leatherman’s Handbook and all the sort of training and processes and the sort of formalities that are involved. … And I’m pretty well-versed in faggotry [laughs] and a lot of different things in the queer world, but other than a moment when I was about 19 years old, I hadn’t really had any experiences in this world, so it was interesting to learn about it and be with all the guys.”

Ahead of Pillion‘s world premiere at Cannes on May 18, which earned an eight-minute ovation and the Un Certain Regard Best Screenplay for Lighton (as well as the Palm Dog for canine supporting actor Hippo), the film was acquired by A24 for US distribution rights in October.

Read on about Jake Shears’ experience making his acting debut in Pillion, as well as his sex scene with Skarsgård and whether his co-star’s piercing was in the script.

I met this woman named Kahleen Crawford, who was the casting director for it, and she had seen me in Cabaret. We ended up meeting at a house party over Christmas a couple years ago and became acquainted and friends, and she told me about this movie. And then, when I finished Cabaret — I’m trying to get the timeline right — but I was at my place in New Orleans, and she called me and she’s like, “Are you sitting down? I really think that this would be a great thing for you to do” that would be not biting off more than I could chew, I think, even though I still feel like I bit off more than I could chew.

No pun intended. But then I talked with Harry [Lighton], we had a great conversation. That’s sort of how I got into the project. I’ve been acquainted with Skarsgård from years before, through friends and whatnot, so I was really stoked to see him. I was excited, it was really interesting. I feel like it was definitely an education for me in a lot of different ways. 

Yeah, all the guys in the movie are the real deal. So I was reading The Leatherman’s Handbook and all the sort of training and processes and the sort of formalities that are involved. I mean, it’s a lot of stuff. You could have three college courses on it. It was a bit overwhelming, but I feel like I got a much better picture of what that scene is, that I didn’t know before. And I’m pretty well-versed in faggotry [laughs] and a lot of different things in the queer world, but other than a moment when I was about 19 years old, I hadn’t really had any experiences in this world, so it was interesting to learn about it and be with all the guys. So it was both warm — the experience — and it was also incredibly intimidating in certain ways, just for me personally, not that anything, not that anybody specifically made it that way. It was intimidating for me for for a lot of different reasons, the whole experience. 

No, I mean, the intimacy coordination was so thorough and so good. It really was like, I found that stuff to be the easiest. The sex in the movie to me, that wasn’t sort of what was intimidating to me. The process of filming and being in a film is what I found to be really jarring, and I learned a lot from it. I knew it would be vastly different from theater, and I knew it would be vastly different from performing on stage and and singing music. It really was like a different ballgame. And I’m a big film head; all the nonfiction I read is basically film history, and that’s what I consume. I watch a lot of movies, I watch a lot of old movies, it’s just a deep passion of mine. So it’s really fascinating for me to be on the other side of it a bit and actually seeing how a machine like that works, and being in front of the camera in that sort of machine. I didn’t feel like — and this was my own insecurities, and this isn’t about the sex in the movie — but I just didn’t feel like I had the tools for it. Just in general, just the process of being in a movie, I was like, “I think I’m in like over my head.” But I also at the same time, I’ve always really pushed myself to do things that are new, that are not necessarily something that’s comfortable for you, and by comfortable I just mean, as far as your skill set. There’s so many facets to this process, and it made me have a whole other kind of respect for film actors. It really did, it’s just so strange how it all works and how people turn it on, And to the film and TV actors I know, it’s just sort of given me like a much deeper insight into what they do. But it was exciting for me to be a part of a project that I thought was something really different and interesting, and something that I could really be proud of being in, and being a part of, that was really exciting for me in that way. So there was a whole bunch of feelings that I was just going through internally. Doing this movie, I love the people I was doing it with. Harry was amazing, both Harrys were awesome. I had a a couple scenes with Harry Melling, one of them made it into the movie. He really was just very sweet with me about my sort of insecurities or fears about doing it. And he really, I think, had quite a bit of patience with me that I really, really appreciated, that made me comfortable. And Skarsgård is somebody that I’ve already felt really comfortable with, and just somebody who is really nice to have a laugh with. They’re both wonderful human beings. 

‘Cause that’s not me, you know what I mean? It was really not in my nature, so just that scene, I had to work on really, really hard to find the spot, and I hope it works. Does it work? 

I feel like I just had to turn part of my brain off and turn part of myself off, and I found it incredibly challenging. You just walk away from that, and you just don’t know if it works, And that’s the thing about films that really blows my mind is that, anybody could make a movie and you can think it’s the most incredible thing in the world, and you think that you’ve done the most amazing job in the world, but unless all the parts are operating together, you could really end up in something that stinks. Which is different from theater because in theater, you’ve got an audience there, you can kind of feel that out a little bit better. I feel like with film, I just don’t see how you can see the forest for the trees. It really is some real faith. 

Well, my jaw was kind of on the floor, reading it. I sort of couldn’t believe it, but it was really exciting for me when I was reading the script. It’s a movie about sex and sexual dynamics= and dynamics of love. When I read it, I was really expecting it to be something dark, and what I was so pleasantly surprised by is the warmth and the humor that’s in the movie. And to me, that sort of blended with the more explicit stuff in the film. I loved that combination when I was reading it. And when I read the script for the first time, it really made me smile, it made me sad. It’s heartbreaking. It’s got all of these different feelings in it, and it just was not what I expected. And when I read the orgy scene in the script, I was just like, “Oh my God.”

[Laughs] No, and I didn’t know about the Prince Albert until the moment it was in front of my face. It might have been in the script, but it wasn’t something that I even thought about until It was right in front of me, and it was so realistic that in the moment, when it’s happening and being filmed, it was kind of shocking in a really great way. 

It was a real reaction! [Laughs]

Yes, I gotta say that prosthetic was really realistic. To me, in real life, it felt very real. Literally and figuratively.

SHEARS: No, but the costumes were fantastic. I love what I got to wear in the movie. I just loved the stuff that was made for me. There was that really cool apron thing that was made for me. I just loved what I got to wear. I thought the costumes were amazing. And I felt sexy. It’s funny because I’d gotten out of Cabaret in like really good shape, and as the summer had gone on, I felt like I was getting more and more out of shape. And I was like, “I just don’t know, I’m not feeling like I’m fully, like, snatched. And Harry [Lighton] was like, “Please don’t. I want you to have a more natural body in this.” And so I sort of had to get comfortable with that too, And I did feel sexy when we were doing it, it felt sexy to me. I wasn’t too worried about that, even though I don’t feel like I was my normal stage shape or whatever, I still felt good doing it. And I loved my hairdo. They gave me a great haircut. But the experience was a real eye-opener for me. It was just one of those things in my life that I’m really happy that I just took a chance with myself and did. I just think doing things that are out of your wheelhouse can be really good for you. And I think it was really good for me in that way, and I’m very thankful to everybody on the project for being as warm and patient and understanding and fun as they were. 

DEADLINE: Is there anything else coming up for you onscreen or is there any kind of role you want to take on next? 

SHEARS: My world has been Scissors, and it’s gonna really be for the rest of the summer. We just put loads of work into — we just did an arena tour in the UK. And I think it was the best show we’ve ever made. It really was a dream show, and we put so much work into it. And it was the longest show we did, it was like a two-hour, it was a big show. So I’m just really happy with what we accomplished with that. We’re touring, we’re doing the Tits Out Tour — Kesha, Scissor Sisters, all summer basically, finishing it off with a show with the Pet Shop Boys in mid-August. And then I’m gonna take a little bit of a break. But it just doesn’t stop. You know what I mean? I work a lot. I would love to definitely do more theater, and I’d be interested in doing more film, but I still feel like I’ve got a lot to learn in that regard. And I think I definitely need to keep building a toolkit for it, and I feel like I feel like I got a couple tools with this movie. But I definitely think it would be amazing to keep building that toolkit with the right stuff cause I really did enjoy the process. And I’m so happy that people seem to really love the movie. I’m just really happy how it already sort of feels sort of beloved in a way. So I’m really about that, because like I said before, you just never know what you’re making, when you’re making it.