Unicorns star Ben Hardy: “I had no idea that you had this whole drag thing going on in the basement of an Indian restaurant; it was fucking amazing!”

You wait ages for a hard hitting yet tender LGBTQI+ drama to come along and then two etc. etc.

In the same week that Lost Boys & Fairies reached its thrilling BBC One climax – see page 98 for the inside skinny – Irish cinema-goers were able to spend their Pride weekend watching Unicorns, an independent British film which finds blokey mechanic, Luke, having to rethink his sexuality after unexpectedly falling for Indian Muslim drag queen Aysha.

Now on general release, the former is played with great nuance by Ben Hardy who, following two years as Peter Beale in EastEnders, has gone on to score high-profile roles in X-Men: Apocalypse, Bohemian Rhapsody – his portrayal of Roger Taylor was spookily accurate – and Netflix’s Love At First Sight, which secretly made us all cry.

Ben knew the moment he read the script that he wanted to play Luke.

“The characters are so rich and fully developed,” he enthuses. “The film deals with a lot of important issues, but is also funny and uplifting. It was written seven years ago and has gone through various stages. First it was going to be a film, then a Channel 4 series with the writer, James Krishna Floyd, originally down to play Aysha. Then it switched back to a film.

“I felt like we were in good hands because James is sexually fluid and very good friends with a drag queen called Asifa Lahore who he consulted a lot during the making of the film.” Ben and Jason Patel, who plays Aysha, were purposefully kept apart so that their first on-screen meeting felt as spontaneous as possible.

“We did a chemistry reading and a read-through where we didn’t talk to each other and that was it until the first day on set so, yeah, those first scenes were barely rehearsed,” he explains. “Jason and I immediately felt very comfortable in each other’s presence. People are calling him a ‘newcomer’ but he’s done lots of theatre work and is a really good actor. He wanted me to feel comfortable with the love-making scenes, so it was a very enjoyable experience.”

Having started out using an intimacy coordinator, Ben and Jason decided as filming progressed that they were happy to get hot ‘n’ steamy without one.

“The directors – who were worried it might get in the way – asked me and Jason, ‘Are you comfortable doing it without an intimacy coordinator?’ Which could be tricky if the power dynamic wasn’t right, but I was totally fine with it, as was Jason. In an ideal world we wouldn’t have to have intimacy coordinators, but sadly there are people who do take advantage of those situations and have to know where the line is.”

Jason Patel as Aysha

Wanting the portrayal of London’s underground Gaysian scene to be as accurate as possible, James Krishna Floyd filmed the club scenes in one of the venues it revolves around.

“I had no idea that you had this whole drag thing going on in the basement of an Indian restaurant; it was fucking amazing!” Ben enthuses. “My first time stepping into that club was when we filmed the scene, so it was a totally new experience for me as well as Luke.”

As wildly entertaining as it is – “I hope people leave the cinema feeling happier than when they came in,” Ben says – Unicorns also documents how taboo being LGBTQI+ is in certain sections of the Asian community.

“James and his co-director, Sally El Hosaini, speak about how heart-breaking it was getting whispered audition tapes from people filmed in their bathrooms because they were afraid their families would hear and judge them,” Ben recounts. “It’s not acceptable for them to be who they are within the family unit. I hope they can watch this film and get something from it.”

Most actors gradually work their way towards appearing in a Hollywood blockbuster, but not Ben whose first ever film was the $544 million grossing X-Men: Apocalypse.

“Man, it was utterly mad!” he reminisces. “On my way to set, my superhero suit ripped leaving a giant hole down by my backside. The lovely women in costume were sewing up my bum in front of all these Academy Award-winners!

“I’m not just saying this because he’s Irish, but on X-Men I was overawed watching how Michael Fassbender works. I was quite stiff and rigid and he gave me tips on how to let loose and be free. Every film I’ve done, Unicorns included, has been a learning experience which is what you want as an actor.”

• Unicorns is in Irish cinemas now.