EDGE Interview: Newcomer Ruaridh Mollica on Playing Queer Sex Worker in Provocative 'Sebastian'

EDGE: The film has been such a hit at film festivals. How's all this been for you?

Ruaridh Mollica: It's been incredible. Sundance was, like, its own thing. It was the initial premiere, the excitement of that. And then I actually kind of forgot that it was going to other festivals and then release, and to see the response from members of the general public who are going to these festivals and seeing the film and seeing how it's responded to in different cities, has been so exciting. And I can't help but read all of the Letterbox reviews. (laughs)

EDGE: What drew you to this role?

Ruaridh Mollica: Well, I got it through a regular audition with a breakdown... it was so well thought out in the way that the character breakdown and the overall synopsis was written. I knew instantly it was written by someone who cared and was wanting to make a piece of film that was art... It felt like Mikko's baby. And then I read the script, and it was just phenomenal. You know when you read something, and it becomes like a movie in your head? It was like that. And I was just so excited with the prospect of being able to potentially be one of the options to play Sebastian/Max. And, also, it's rare that a queer character is portrayed so well in film, post- coming-out. It's not about being queer, in that sense. Obviously that's a very large element, but it's about more than that. It's about his artistic journey and what he's going through.

EDGE: One of the themes is this generational connection between gay men, which isn't often explored in film.

Ruaridh Mollica: Yeah, totally. I think it was something that actually really struck me when I first read it as well. I wasn't necessarily sure where a love story was going to fall into this. Max tends to be seeing a lot of older clients, just due to the nature of the work and people who have money... And it did open these doors for people to connect with people that they never would have got to connect to – generations of older gay men who are more afraid to go to gay bars and queer clubs and that kind of scene due to how they grew up and things like that. And it's being able to cultivate these bonds within the privacy of people's own homes, and the fact that love stories and connections can bloom from that is such a beautiful thing.

EDGE: What kind of research did you do?

Ruaridh Mollica: Oh, I did so much. It was my first opportunity – who knows if I'll get another opportunity to portray such a character study of a lead role. I just wanted to fall into everything. I wanted to really understand Max, wanted to read what Max would be reading, to listen to what Max would be listening to. I asked Mikko about all the things that he read and watched when he was writing the script and one of the main books was "City of Night" (by John Rechy). I was reading "Savage Nights" by Cyril Collard. "The Stranger" by Albert Camus was a really interesting one in terms of understanding that kind of loneliness that that character goes through... I was writing more... I was watching films like "Clouds of Sils Maria" ... which is meta in the way that "Sebastian" is meta. Having a year to prepare, as well, where I always had to be almost ready to shoot because I wasn't quite sure when we'd be shooting, I really had to stay in the character. Every day or every week I'd be reading something related to it.

I'd be listening to the music I gave to Max, like Rufus Wainwright and "Less Than Zero" by Elvis Costello, which is another famous one about Brett Easton Ellis' novels "Less Than Zero." Reading a lot of Ellis because Max was obsessed with him... I was already really interested in literature, and it was really fun to dive further into these different worlds and become obsessed with those things.

EDGE: In the film, there's this notion explored about how far a writer will go in the pursuit of authenticity. That's been explored before, but in "Sebastian," it feels like Max's talent lies in capturing the things almost exactly the way they happen. There's a layer of complexity there because he's doing it as his own creation, Sebastian.

Ruaridh Mollica: That's such a good way to analyze that because he's so about living what you're making your art about. And living the truth. Yet he's hiding under the alias. And I think that is such an interesting topic of conversation. It's so prevalent at the start of the film, but it's almost like this fear of admitting that he is doing what he's doing for his art. Is there an element of wanting to hide that? Is there an embarrassment about going so hard for your art in a world where maybe people don't do that as much?

EDGE: And the notions of personas is also fascinating. We create different personas for different people, in certain situations. Can you speak about creating that duality. Did you find yourself Jekyll and Hyding a bit?

Ruaridh Mollica: Yeah... It took me a really long time to figure out how to approach this duality between Max and Sebastian because I didn't want it to be like Clark Kent/Superman kind of thing. And it came down to that it wasn't really that separate. It had to all come from Max and all the traits and emotions that are brought into more light when he's Sebastian are all still present in Max, but perhaps there's more hidden. And being under an alias and with strangers, you're given that freedom to explore more of yourself – in the same way that when I moved to London, being away from the smaller city of Edinburgh, I was able to explore other parts of me that maybe would have been too scary. Or you're too tied to certain ways around your friend-group. So, I ended up realizing that Sebastian does play to what his clients want from him. It's an interesting thing to balance those two, but ultimately, the route is always in Max, and anything that is bigger or more performative is performative for what the clients perhaps want.

EDGE: Let's discuss the frank depiction of sex in the film. Were you apprehensive about it?

Ruaridh Mollica: Yeah, of course. I'd never really done a sex scene before. Coincidentally, about three weeks before we started shooting "Sebastian," I did one day on "Sexy Beast" for Paramount+. I played Young Teddy Bass, and it was an orgy scene. I worked with an intimacy coordinator. That was kind of my prep work for getting comfortable with that. It definitely made it easier going into it. But I was so worried. I was like, "How am I going to do all this?" We had an incredible intimacy coordinator. The first sex scene we shot was one with David Nellist, who played Peter at the start of the film. That was probably the hardest one to overcome, because it was the first week of shooting, so everyone was still getting to know each other. We were still trying to find all of our trust in each other. We had to put in a lot more work just getting comfortable and trying to make these sex scenes look authentic. They're so challenging! Once you're in it, it becomes like a stage fighting kind of thing. It's so choreographed, and you have to do this thing at this moment. You have to be aware of where the camera is, because you're wearing your modesty garments, and they can't be seen with the camera because it gives away the illusion. And trying to get all the positioning right. It is actually a beast of a task. Not to mention the scene we have with multiple participants. That was quite a big one to do. But it got to the point where it became so much fun doing these scenes, and you're so comfortable with everyone that it was just great. And all the worries I had disappeared.

EDGE: It seems like you found that balance between feeling safe and also being allowed to take risks.

Ruaridh Mollica: Totally, yeah. I definitely wouldn't have been comfortable taking risks if I hadn't felt so safe. At the start, it was very much like, "I need to know exactly where that person's hand is going to be. I need to know exactly what's going to happen." And then as you build trust with the other actor, there's maybe room for a little bit more improvisation, within a very specific field. But it allowed things to come to life a little bit more under the guidance of the intimacy coordinator.

EDGE: Very different from, say, films of the '70s like "Don't Look Now," with its famous sex scene. You have to wonder how coordinated that was.

Ruaridh Mollica: I've worked with some older actors and talked to them about intimate scenes and a lot of them say that back then it was like, "Well, just take your clothes off and get at it." The director was just like, "Go, do it now." There'd be no warm-up... I think back in the day when there was no closed set, people managed, but I don't think it's as safe, or you can build anything authentically, without an intimacy coordinator.

EDGE: A lot has been written about the importance of queer artists telling queer stories. But as an actor, shouldn't you be free to play any role, within reason?

Ruaridh Mollica: Yeah. This is always a conversation that I have different thoughts about depending on what I see and what it is. For a while, I firmly believed that just queer actors should play queer roles, mainly in terms of the sensitivity and the understanding of the topics. But now I do believe as long as the actor is an ally and perhaps has friends in the community and as long as the filmmakers are queer – someone, the writer, director – I think it's more important that they are getting to tell their stories. And if they see that an actor that they like is perfect for telling their story, as a queer person, I think that is probably one of the most important things. But I do agree that if you can cast queer, you should cast queer; if you can cast trans, you should definitely cast trans.

EDGE: On the audience side, as somebody who's gay or bisexual now – we're getting bisexual stories which is great. It's always nice to look up the actor and not find out that he's straight and married and has children.

Ruaridh Mollica: (laughs) Totally, totally. And it gets so interesting as well, because sometimes, off the bat, if they're married and have children, I'm like, "Well, they must definitely be straight." But then I have to understand that – I mean, I'm bisexual – but people who are bisexual may have found love with a woman, and that's also wonderful. But it is the people who have come out as openly straight and do keep doing queer roles, I'm like, "Okay, do one, maybe... and then, throw in the towel!"

EDGE: Agreed. "Too Rough" was an exceptional short film you made, and you were amazing in it.

Ruaridh Mollica: Thank you. "Too Rough" was really the beginning of everything for me. I'd done a few things when I was young but then I'd went to university and I did a whole other degree, and it was in my final year doing my dissertation that I got the audition for "Too Rough." And I just went for it. We shot it in four days. And that was what really awakened the cathartic passion for acting again. It was like, "Oh my god, this is work and I feel so happy doing it." That film was probably one of the main films that was a catalyst for me coming out. I hadn't really addressed it. I was at a semi-sports science university. It was a very straight place to be. And that film was definitely the beginning of that, and the beginning of my deciding to pursue acting.

EDGE: Who are your film heroes?

Ruaridh Mollica: Oh, Andrew Haigh, I love. Luca Guadagnino... I really love Willem Dafoe. He always does such cool, interesting, freaky stuff. And Francis McDormand, in terms of someone who is just the most natural, incredible performer. "Nomadland" is one of my favorite films of all time. I'd love to work with her. And Eliza Hitman. "Beach Rats" was something I watched when I was preparing for "Sebastian." And the Duplass Brothers. Their approach to filmmaking, no matter your budget, just roll up your sleeves, write it and do it. I really respect that.

EDGE: You mentioned "Beach Rats" and I was reminded that someone recently called you the Italian Harris Dickinson.

Ruaridh Mollica: (laughs) No way? Oh, that feels good. I'll take that any day!

"Sebastian" opens theatrically on August 2 in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City. For more on the film, click here.

Check out these pics from Mollica's Instagram: