Daniel Craig talks about “touching, real and natural” gay love scenes in new film, ‘Queer’

Daniel Craig attended a photocall for his new film Queer – an adaptation of a novella by American writer William Burroughs – during the annual Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, September 3.

The actor, 56, was seen larking around with his co-star Drew Starkey, 30, as they promoted the same-sex romance movie in which they play lovers.

The photocall comes as Daniel spoke about the frank gay love scenes in Queer, telling the Venice Film Festival: ‘We just wanted to make it as touching and as real and as natural as we could.

‘There was some choreography in the movie which was a very important part of the movie. Drew and I started months before filming rehearsing the dancing. Dancing with someone is a great icebreaker.

‘You know as well as I do there is nothing intimate about filming a sex scene on a movie set, but we just wanted to make it as touching and as real and as natural as we could.’

Director Luca Guadagnino, behind the recent hit Challengers, said: ‘Daniel in our first Zoom was adamant that this was going to be a love story first and foremost. We stuck with that – what does it mean to love and to be loved, to be connected and to be disconnected.’

In the film, Craig plays an American, William Lee, living in Mexico City who becomes sexually obsessed with a former sailor, Allerton [Starkey].

One much talked about scene sees Daniel perform oral sex on Allerton.

Venice Film Festival boss Alberto Barbera said he believes Daniel has given ‘the performance of a lifetime’ in Queer, and added he’d be surprised if we don’t see the British actor at the Academy Awards next year.

It would mark the first ever Oscar nod for Craig.