‘A vehicle for discussion’: Ruaridh Mollica on playing a gay sex worker in new indie film Sebastian (EXCLUSIVE)

Early on in gloriously gay character study Sebastian, a slim, hairless 20-something named Max (who is, for want of a more modern term, a twink) vigorously fucks an older, larger, hairier man (because the perfect word exists, a bear). Later, the budding sex worker, played with wild abandon by 25-year-old Italian-Scottish actor Ruaridh Mollica, charms a genteel client played by Jonathan Hyde. The 76-year-old acting veteran is as grandly handsome as he was in the 90s (you may recognise him from blockbusters such as Titanic and Jumanji), but his coarse, slackened skin nevertheless stands in stark contrast to Mollica’s luminous complexion as they kiss.

Watching these scenes, a distinct thought crossed my mind: ‘I’ve never seen this before. Not even in porn.’ Is culture — even gay culture, even porn — considerably less sex-positive than we realise? Thus, Finnish filmmaker Mikko Mäkelä’s film effortlessly achieves its presumed mission: to prompt new, shame-stripping conversations about sex.

“Sex is something that happens all the time, pretty much everyone does it — and yet it’s so little talked about,” highlights Mollica, chatting to me by phone ahead of the film’s UK release. “Unless it’s in a close friend group. It seems mad. You talk about work all the time. You talk about what you did at the weekend all the time. But you won’t say: ‘Oh yeah, I shagged on the weekend!’ You know what I mean?

“I feel like in London, a lot of people do sex work, especially in the queer community,” he adds of his character Max, whose pursuit of sex for money — and inspiration for his autobiographical roman-à-clef — proves so easy-breezy, so largely devoid of victim tropes that it means he has nothing to write about. 

“Hopefully it will be a vehicle for a discussion,” says Mollica. The film certainly provoked internal conversations for the rising star. “I felt very empowered and a lot more comfortable in my sexuality during and after the film,” he shares. 

Sebastian is Mollica’s first starring role after working in computer science in the Scottish capital. “It wasn’t a very queer space,” he says of his previous profession. “And I didn’t find Edinburgh a very queer city growing up. I never found that strength. The film really helped me embrace that and feel pride in it and not want to keep it hidden anymore, I guess.” Asked how he identifies, he tells us: “I identify as bisexual. I prefer queer, because bisexual puts too much of a binary on gender. Whereas I feel I don’t really care too much about gender. Although I would say my pronouns are he/him.”

Here, Mollica shares his views on the legalisation of sex work, plus his experiences of working with intimacy coordinators and shooting an orgy scene for the recent Sexy Beast TV series for Paramount+.

What was your first response when approached about Sebastian?

I was excited. I’d never had the opportunity to even consider being the lead of something. The more I read, the more I fell in love with the script. I could tell straight away how much work Mikko had put into this character, this story. I realised what an opportunity this is. I was really into literature at the time — and still am. This excited that part inside of me as well. A story about a queer man in London, and I’d just moved to London… It all felt very right.

You spent a year in prep before the film…

I didn’t expect it to be a year. I spent a lot of time reading the literature that was in the script — reading Philip Roth’s novels, reading John Rechy, reading Cyril Collard’s Savage Nights — immersing myself in it. I was ready for the film to start shooting ‘next month’, and then that month would go by, and I’d be ready for it to be the next month. In turn, it worked out really beneficially, as I had so much time with the text and with Mikko to be prepping. Being so immersed and always in it for a year did a lot for my performance — I hope!

How has it informed your views on sex work?

It’s opened my mind a lot more to sex work. I’ve never had negative views on it anyway. But I think it was quite empowering to explore sex work in a deeper way. I watched a lot of interviews. Mikko had done a lot of research, talked to friends who are sex workers. For me, sex work is just another job. A lot of people who do sex work love their job. I think there’s an absolute power to that. That’s something that needs to be more normalised and accepted. It’s slowly happening through OnlyFans. But there’s still a lot of taboo around the subject that’s slowly getting dismantled, which is nice.

Has the film given you any thoughts on how people can support the decriminalisation and destigmatisation of sex work? I guess the film is a huge contribution, right?

Thanks. I hope so. The biggest thing that I feel is important is talking about sex work more often and bringing it up in regular day-to-day conversations. There’s also something about breaking down how people talk about sex as well. Fundamentally, sex is still something people talk about in a very taboo way. Or there’s a lot of shyness around that type of thing. There’s judgement around sex. If that begins to change, the conversation around sex work will change as well.

If you were to meet your character, what would you ask him?

How much money do you make? [Laughs] I’d probably ask about literary influences. The goal after the novel. Are you going to do a second one? Did you carry on seeing Nicholas? Are you still together?

Did you and the director have any conversations about what the character is doing now?

We definitely talked about him continuing to do sex work. There’s a scene towards the end where he is doing it out of his own apartment, just for the joy of it. It’s no longer about the writing. 

Were there any discussions about increasing the presence of OnlyFans in the film? The film is modern, but the way he’s finding the clients is slightly old school, with the website.

There is a scene where another sex worker was asking Max, we should collab, we should do OnlyFans together. That time, when that question is asked, he’s not wanting to be found out. It still feels like his own little secret. It’s too public, it’s too easy access, his face is too attached. Whether he would or not, I’m not sure. I think Max enjoys the physical part of it. Being face-to-face and living it.

If you wrote a book, what would it be about?

Such a good question. Something Scottish or Italian, something familiar in my roots. Maybe a story about family, a twin. There’s something about that that’s very interesting. Growing up alongside someone but leading such different lives but coming from the same womb. Maybe it’s because I read this book called Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. That’s about family; she’s retelling the story of her youth to her daughters. But who knows?

Your co-star Jonathan Hyde is in The Brutalist, which is a big Oscars contender. Did you talk about it?

We did! I remember shooting and being, like, what are you doing next week? [Adopts cut-glass diction] “I’m back off to Budapest, for The Brutalist.” I was like, ‘Oh, I wonder what that is!’

He was also in Titanic, Jumanji, The Mummy and Anaconda. Did he refer back to those experiences?

I don’t think we talked about those [films]. There were a few times we were filming outside, and someone would come and go: “Oh my god! You’re the guy from Titanic!” He’d go [puts on cut-glass diction]: “Yes. That is me.” But really, we just joked around and bonded really quickly! I looked at him as an inspiration. He’s older and still unbelievably youthful. It made me realise getting old is a choice in a lot of ways. He was so vibrant. I was crying with laughter all the time. To the point Mikko had to stop us sometimes!

How did you build chemistry with him? Did you approach it any differently, given his being older?

I think just the same, you know. When you’re working with an intimacy coordinator, you do a lot of exercises in terms of building trust with each other. It’s like, you’re on the other side of the room and you ask me to take a step towards you, until we’re touching noses. It’s a nice consent exercise. After half an hour of these intimacy exercises, you’d be so surprised how close and aligned you feel with the other person. Other than the Tube, you don’t ever get that close to someone you don’t know that well. Working with intimacy coordinators was the way in for that. And then we also happened to get on really well. Jonathan really, really cared about this story, and gave his whole heart to it. By doing that, it opens everyone’s hearts in the room. 

Had you used intimacy coordinators before or after?

I hadn’t really, before. I had one scene in a Sexy Beast scene for Paramount. That was a big orgy! I did a little bit there, but not quite to the same extent. 

Baptism of fire, though!

Exactly! And then we did the concept short for Jon Ransom’s novel, The Whale Tattoo. We’re making that into a feature with Tom Brittney. We had an intimacy coordinator for that as well.

What was it like working with Sam Mendes on HBO comedy The Franchise?

Such a wild time. I never thought I’d work with Sam Mendes, especially at this stage in my career. I was just trying to do everything right, trying not to make any mistakes. It was the biggest set I’ve ever been on. Daniel Brühl, Himesh Patel, Richard E. Grant… I’m like: ‘Oh my god, what is happening?!’ It was amazing to see Sam’s vision and attention to detail. It was a true privilege.

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What’s been your biggest pinch-me moment?

Last year, I went to the BAFTAs for the first time. In the same moment, you’re like, ‘Oh my god, why is David Beckham here? Oh, there’s Margot Robbie!’ You realise everyone’s just… there. They’re just people. There are so many pinch-me people, it cancels it all out.

You used to work at Selfridges. Did you cross paths with any famous people there?

Bimini Bon Boulash — she was on the wrong floor!   

Sebastian is in cinemas on 4 April 2025