Former Harry Potter actor stars in X-rated film that gets eight minute standing ovation

As Miriam Margolyes rather controversially put it, some fans can’t quite let go of the Wizarding World as it was on screen.

Despite actors moving on from Harry Potter (and even distancing themselves from its transphobic creator), Potterheads still hold the beloved characters close to their hearts.

And so when the stars appear in something else, it can be a bit of a double take in remembering they aren’t those young wizards or muggles featuring in a new world.

But a new film in particular will be quite the double take as one of the stars from Hogwarts is appearing in an X-rated flick that reportedly ‘outdoes Babygirl’.

The LGBTQ+ project got an eight-minute standing ovation during its screening at Cannes Film Festival last night (18 May).

It's said to be a 'breakthrough role' for Melling.(Earl Gibson III/Deadline via Getty Images)

Pillion is a first feature for director Harry Lighton and is adapted from Adam Mars-Jones’ 2020 novel, Box Hill.

As well as Alexander Skarsgård, it starts Harry Melling, who fans may know best as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films.

But this character really is the diversion from the annoying cousin, as Pillion follows the BDSM relationship between a biker and a traffic enforcement officer.

Melling plays the shy and timid parking officer while Skarsgård is the dominative alpha male.

In case you’re not quite following, ‘pillion’ essentially refers to the passenger seat at the back of a motorcycle. But in queer culture, it’s basically another name for a bottom in sex.

Set in London, Pillion goes right into kink as The Guardian says it’s ‘basically what Fifty Shades of Grey should have been’.

The Hollywood Reporter adds: “Pillion is less about the shock factor of some very graphic gay kink than the nuances of love, desire and mutual needs within a sub/dom relationship.”

The pair star in a sub/dom relationship. (Lionel Hahn/Getty Images)

And it obviously went down well with the audience at Cannes, as the likes of Pedro Pascal gave it a big old eight-minute long ovation when it finished.

It’s not all super serious either, as it's said to be ‘peppered with moments of comedy’ as Lighton said it can ‘riff on some of the tropes of romantic comedies and see how they map onto an atypical submissive/dominant relationship’.

Skarsgård told Reuters: “In reality, there are a lot of awkward moments when you change position. Just by leaving in those awkward transitions and stuff makes it feel real, but it also is kind of funny, because you're not used to seeing that on screen."

And Melling admitted he was relieved the audience had a laugh last night as he said: “The weird thing about doing a movie is you don't really know if it is funny at the time of doing it.”

It has been described as a ‘breakthrough’ role for the Harry Potter star.