Shatner finds likeness between the erotic 2025 drama “Pillion” and a playful shove in the face from his friend Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Image: William Shatner; Alexander Skarsgård. Credit: Craig Barritt/Getty; Jamie McCarthy/Getty
By Ryan Coleman
- William Shatner is sharing what he learned about “the world of homosexuality” from the Alexander Skarsgård film Pillion.
- Shatner connected a playful shove in the face from his friend Neil deGrasse Tyson to Skarsgård’s 2025 erotic drama about a queer relationship forged in the BDSM community.
- “It’s so incredible to have an insight into a group of people whose passions — I’m talking about the push in the face, is like discarding you,” Shatner mused. “Sometimes the relationship between two guys is that way.”
At 95 years old, William Shatner is still learning.
The Star Trek legend opened up about his “bromance” with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on Wednesday’s episode of the Dropping Names podcast. The actor and the scientist have co-hosted live shows and co-starred in the unscripted audio project Cosmos Confidential. Their friendship is strong, but a recent, spontaneous gesture from Tyson left him confused.
“He and I are doing publicity for a show we’re going to do, right? And we’re on camera, right? And I said, ‘Well, I don’t think I’ve got—’ and he goes like this,” Shatner began, then beckoned his Star Trek: Generations costar Brent Spiner to come forward, so he could demonstrate how Tyson responded. Rather than cutting Shatner off with words, he simply put his hand in the actor’s face and shoved him backward, as Shatner demonstrated on Spiner.
In attempting to describe how the gesture affected him, Shatner asked, “Have you seen that movie, Pillar? Pillari?” before finally finding it — “Pillion.”
Directed by British filmmaker Harry Lighton, Pillion is about the erotic awakening of Colin (Harry Melling), a timid gay man who is ushered into a brazen world beyond his imagination when he’s picked up by the BDSM-inclined American biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård).
Or, in Shatner’s telling, “It’s two gay guys. It’s Alexander Skarsgård. It’s the most incredible movie. The world of homosexuality I’m not familiar with. Are you?”
Spiner and his cohost, fellow Trekkie Jonathan Frakes, both demurred, though Spiner joked that he’s at least “aware of it.” But Shatner insisted, “You’re not aware unless [you’ve] seen that movie. You wouldn’t be aware of the intricacies of the relationships. It’s so incredible to have an insight into a group of people whose passions — I’m talking about the push in the face, is like discarding you. Sometimes the relationship between two guys is that way. And they center on that in the movie.”
Shatner praised Pillion for providing “an insight into a world that I never knew existed. And in the same discarded way that a push in the face would be, ‘My god, what did he just do? What are the psychological ramifications of anybody [doing that]?’” the film answers the question of what someone in a queer context might do were they to encounter their own push-in-the-face moment.
Tyson is a Harvard-educated scientist who has directed Princeton’s Hayden Planetarium and written more than a dozen books. Shatner called him “a superior human being,” specifying, “physically. He danced in [a] ballet. He danced in a men’s [exotic night club] with his jock strap on. I mean, he was like 170 pounds. [He] was a champion wrestler and he was the brightest guy in his school. He’s the brightest, most physically capable.”
Recalling the 2009 documentary William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet, about the creation of a ballet performance set to music by Shatner, Frakes asked his fellow space explorer, “Who does this remind you of?” To which Shatner simply replied, “Me.”
You can watch Shatner’s full appearance on the Dropping Names podcast on YouTube.
Source: https://ew.com/william-shatner-says-he-learned-about-homosexuality-from-alexander-skarsgard-movie-pillion-12169501
