Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey have talked about playing gay characters as straight actors in their new film Queer.
The James Bond star, 56, and the Outer Banks actor, 31, are the latest to appear on the cover of Variety ahead of the film’s release.
The film is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by William Burroughs and stars Daniel as American expatriate and war veteran William Lee, who has an affair with a younger man, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a drug addict and military veteran. discharged from the Navy.
But speaking to Variety, the duo revealed their feelings towards portraying gay characters as straight men, after Daniel played the serial ladies’ man Bond.
“It wasn’t part of the audition process; (director Luca Guadagnino) didn’t ask us the intricacies of our sexuality,” Drew revealed.
Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey have talked about playing gay characters as straight actors in their new film Queer while gracing the cover of Variety.
The film is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by William Burroughs and stars Daniel as American expatriate and war veteran William Lee, who has an affair with a younger man, Eugene Allerton.
In real life, both men are heterosexual: Daniel is married to Rachel Weisz and Drew is dating Odessa A’Zion.
Craig added: “I’m not ruling it out, but I didn’t really do it… There’s a kind of trust in the director, and a trust in the process of what you know, and realizing that the story has massive, universal themes.” that attract”. hopefully everyone.
‘The film is not defined by that. I really, really don’t think it is. Other people see it differently, that’s up to them.’
“I’ve been filming sex on screen since I made my short film ‘Qui’ when I was 22,” Luca added. “I always told myself, if you start giving that scene a level of awareness or alarm, it will become what it shouldn’t be.
“Quality means making the audience surrender to what they are seeing,” he says, “without judging it, without feeling its falsity, but believing it completely.”
The film features some steamy scenes between Daniel and Drew, with the former saying, “You’ve got to check your ego at the door.” You have to let it go. There are no rules. ‘
In response, Drew said, ‘That’s what I learned from you. There is no ego involved. I have never seen a freer actor.
The James Bond star, 56, and the Outer Banks actor, 31, are the latest to appear on the cover of Variety ahead of the film’s release.
But speaking to Variety, the duo revealed their feelings towards portraying gay characters as straight men, after Daniel played serial ladies’ man Bond.
In real life, both men are heterosexual: Daniel is married to Rachel Weisz and Drew is dating Odessa A’Zion.
The film features some steamy scenes between Daniel and Drew, with the former saying, “You’ve got to check your ego at the door.”
Daniel added: “I’ve been in movies with terrible love scenes. It doesn’t work.
‘You need a director who has sensitivity, a director who understands, to, to put it crudely, make it real. That’s the job every day: to make it as real as possible.’
The latest trailer begins with Daniel Craig’s character strolling the streets of Mexico City at night.
He enters a café where he sees Allerton sitting near the window and the two men exchange a look.
Daniel’s character is then heard telling a friend: ‘It was a wise old queen who told me that I have a duty to live, to overcome hatred with knowledge, sincerity and love.
‘The difficult thing is convincing another person that they are really part of you.’
In response, Drew said, ‘That’s what I learned from you. There is no ego involved. I have never seen a freer actor.
The most recent trailer opens with Daniel Craig’s character strolling the streets of Mexico City at night.
Daniel’s character is then heard telling a friend: “It was a wise old queen who told me that I have a duty to live, to overcome hatred with knowledge, sincerity and love.”
The trailer then sees William and Allerton spending time together at the cinema and on the beach before they appear to have sex and are also seen lying in bed.
Daniel spoke about the film’s love scenes, saying at the Venice Film Festival: “We just wanted it to be as moving, real and natural as we could.”
Delegates to the film festival were surprised by the sex scenes, which were unlike anything seen before in a conventional film.
