Daniel Craig Says He 'Tried to Make' His “Queer ”Sex Scenes with Costar 'Fun': We Wanted Them to Be 'Touching' and 'Real'

Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey share the screen in 'Queer,' an adaptation of William S. Burroughs' 1985 novel of the same name

Daniel Craig is reflecting on filming sex scenes for his new movie, Queer.

While Craig, 56, appeared alongside costar Drew Starkey at the 2024 Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, Sept. 3, where he spoke about how he and Starkey, 30, approached filming intimate moments for the new movie, which filmmaker Luca Guadagnino adapted from William S. Burroughs' 1985 novel of the same name.

"There's some choreography in the movie, which is a very important part of the movie. Drew and I started rehearsals on that months before we started filming," Craig told reporters during a press conference when asked about the movie's sex scenes. "Dancing with someone is a great ice breaker."

"You know as well as I do, there's nothing intimate about filming a sex scene on a movie set. There's a room full of people watching you," he added. "We just wanted to make it as touching and as real and as natural as we possibly could, and Drew is a wonderful, fantastic, beautiful actor to work with and we had a laugh. We tried to make it fun."

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Queer marks just Craig's second movie role since his last turn as James Bond in 2021's No Time to Die. In the film, Craig portrays an American expat living in Mexico City in 1950 who establishes a romantic connection with a younger man named Eugene (Starkey), according to the festival's synopsis.

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"We jumped into movement rehearsals pretty early on and I think, not just in the intimate scenes but throughout the course of the movie, that really freed us up," Starkey told reporters of working with Craig.

"Freed what was happening in here and freed our bodies up and we felt open to try new things," he continued. "When you're rolling around on the floor with someone the second day of knowing each other, I think that's a good way to get to know somebody."

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The new movie marks Guadagnino's second consecutive collaboration with screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, as well as Academy Award-winning composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, after the spring release of Challengers.

"I kind of look at this movie and I think if I wasn't in the movie and I saw this movie, I'd want to be in it," Craig added, while speaking to working with Guadagnino for the first time.

Queer also stars Lesley Manville, Jason Schwartzman, Andra Ursuta, Michael Borremans and David Lowery.

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