William Shatner shares his love for queer dom-com Pillion—and you’ll never guess why!

At 95 years old, Star Trek icon William Shatner is as spry as ever and is still learning new things about the world: like that fact he might be into getting pushed around by a dom daddy!

Hey, you’re never to old to boldly go where you’ve never gone before…

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At least, that seems to be what he was hinting at when he recently guested on the podcast Dropping Names, telling hosts—and fellow Star Trek alum—Brent Spiner & Jonathan Frakes about his surprising love for Pillion.

That’s right, Shatner’s a fan of the kinky, queer “dom-com” where Alexander Skarsgård plays a leather-clad gay biker who picks a love-struck loner (Harry Melling) to be his new sub.

“Have you seen that movie? It’s two gay guys,” he bluntly describes it as he struggles to remember the title. “It’s the most incredible movie”—something we’ve been telling people since we first saw it earlier this year!

“The world of homosexuality, I’m not familiar with,” Shatner admits before asking Spiner if he is: “Well, to a degree,” the host responds in a moment that’s garnering a lot of laughs from the Gay Internet.

Jokes aside, Shatner goes on to excitedly share how Pillion has opened his eyes to a whole other way of life he wasn’t previously hip to: “You’re not aware unless [you’re in it.] You wouldn’t be aware of the intricacies of the relationships… It’s an insight into a world I never knew existed.”

It’s true! As adapted for the screen by out writer-director Harry Lighton, Pillion was such a success because it’s a story told authentically from a queer perspective, one that wasn’t watered down or sanitized to appeal to a more mainstream (i.e. straight) audience.

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It’s a movie that isn’t shy about the mostly physical nature of the relationship between its two male leads, one that could frequently blur the line between pain & pleasure. Even among the world of queer cinema, there are few this frank about the B.D.S.M. community and the rough side of gay sex.

And it seems Shatner sat up and took notice. Whoever out there is recommending modern queer classics to the man the world knows as Captain James T. Kirk, thank you for your service!

But even more fascinating is how Shatner got on the subject of Pillion in the first place… It started when the Dropping Names hosts asked him who is the person he’s shared space with that he’s been most in awe of, to which he replied astrophysicist & author Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

The actor clearly has a great deal of respect for Tyson, talking about how he’s a “superior human being,” both mentally and physically, reminding us that the famed scientist was a wrestler in college who almost became an exotic dancer. Basically, he stops just shy of saying Tyson is hot!

Calling their relationship a “one-sided bromance,” Shatner then recalls an instance the two were working together on a project and got in a friendly disagreement, prompting Tyson to push him in the face, illustrating just how “physical” he can be.

And, for some reason, that anecdote is what prompted Shatner to bring up Pillion. The connection here being that he sees Tyson’s playful, non-verbal shove as akin to the physical nature of Skarsgård & Melling’s on-screen relationship. Interesting, right?

“Sometimes, the relationship between two guys is that way,” he tells the two bewildered hosts, “and they center that in the movie.” He continues: “And in the same way that a push in the face would be—my god! What did he just do? What are the psychological ramifications of [that]?”

In other words, folks, this is William Shatner realizing in real-time that he got dommed by Neil DeGrasse Tyson—and liked it!

Look, we’re half-joking here, but we’re quite tickled by the fact that Shatner’s just now learning about why some people are into B.D.S.M. and playing rough. And that maybe, in some way, he is, too. After all, getting pushed by Tyson clearly impacted him, and he doesn’t seem mad about it!

That he’s doing so while hyping up Pillion—one of the best queer films of the decade so far—only makes this unexpected moment for the nonagenarian star all the more delightful.

What’s that thing Spock used to always say on Star Trek? “Live long and prosper”? Sound like William Shatner’s taking that to heart!

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