Daniel Craig Left Drew Starkey and the Entire Set of ‘Queer’ Speechless During This “Incredibly Emotional” Scene

Less than a year since Challengers grasped audiences, filmmaker Luca Guadagnino is releasing his next feature, Queer, with A24. The movie is an adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novella that stars Daniel Craig as William Lee, a man observing life pass in 1950s Mexico City. For Lee, many things come easily — romantic trysts, addictions, obsession — but human connection is a struggle until he meets Eugene Allerton, played by Drew Starkey.

In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Craig and Starkey recall moments from set, like what it was like to film with Guadagnino in Rome and bringing to life the novella that first inspired the director when he was 21 years old. They discuss why that beautiful Sicilian beach scene was more challenging than it looks, their preparation process before stepping on set, and which scenes from the movie have lingered well after wrapping.

‘Queer’ Is Luca Guadagnino’s Dream Come True

COLLIDER: You both did fantastic work in this. I also wanted to say thank you. You won’t remember this, but I did two set visits on Bond and both times you were so awesome, and I just want to say thank you.

DANIEL CRAIG: That’s my pleasure. Never happen again. [Laughs]

That I’m pretty sure of. So one of the things about this is that Luca has been trying to make this since he was 21, and he’s also been trying to film at that studio in Rome his whole life. How happy was he every day on set to be making this? Because it seems like two huge dreams of his came together.

DREW STARKEY: He led with incredible passion for it. The first time I met him, he told me how long he’s been wanting to make this film. I’ve never worked with Luca before, so this is the first time, so it just felt like there was a childlike quality to him being at Cinecittà [Studios] and shooting in Italy and telling this story. Just an infinite kind of curiosity every day. So, it was great to just be by his side through it.

CRAIG: I think that for all of us in different ways. I’ve shot in Italy before, but I’ve shot with British crews and on huge, great big movies. This was all studio-based, and I loved the fact that it was studio-based. It meant that a lot of the magic that’s in the movie is happening in camera. It’s all of those things. And I think for Luca it was a combination of many, many things, so to be there with him on that journey is a major privilege.

I love learning about the way actors prepare to step on set for day one, and I’m curious for the both of you, how early on were you thinking about everything and breaking down the script and inhabiting these characters?

CRAIG: It happened very quickly once we said we were going to do it. I met Luca probably about six months before we started shooting and we had a couple of meetings, and I was like, “I’m in. Let’s do this.” Then things started to really move very rapidly after that, and next thing we’re in Rome. So, I would say the proper prep’s about four months. At least I start really seriously thinking about it, properly just weighing it up. It’s the accent I’m I’m working on and just getting all of that right, but that’s just quite technical at first. Then, the last two months are really digging into it and trying to prep yourself as much as possible for that first day when everybody on set’s just shitting themselves [laughs] — and that’s including the director and then the producer and the camera person.

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Luca Guadagnino adapts William S. Burroughs’ novel in a way that cares about the original story, but makes it Guadagnino’s own.

When you’re prepping, is it like a Monday through Friday, every day you’re treating it like a job?

CRAIG: It’s pretty much like that. I mean, I always love those writers I know who are just so disciplined; they get up at six, and they have their coffee and have a think, and they’re writing by eight for two or three hours. Wow. I mean, it’s every day. It’s Monday to Friday. I don’t work on the weekends, but I will, during my Monday to Friday, put in at least three or four hours just sitting behind the desk, sometimes just thinking, just thinking, and then other times literally going through line by line thinking about what I’m gonna do. You wanna be as prepared as possible. And then you get there, and you forget it all.

STARKEY: Yeah.

CRAIG: It’s gone.

STARKEY: It’s also individual to a project. It’s kind of unique to anything you do. At least for me, on this, it was by way of osmosis, in a way, just meditating on it and emotionally preparing yourself, getting into emotional states throughout the day. I had something very technical or tactile to latch onto in losing some weight, and so that was something I could practice every day. But then, the first day, your heart is pounding, and you forget how to talk.

CRAIG: And move your limbs.

STARKEY: Yeah, you’re freaking out.

That Sicilian Beach Scene in ‘Queer’ Wasn’t As Easy as It Looks

During the making of this, which shot or sequence ended up being a real challenge to film, whether because of a camera move, dialogue, or emotions in the scene?

STARKEY: That’s a good question.

CRAIG: How are you gonna answer it? [Laughs] It might be a good question, but let’s hear it.

STARKEY: My mind went to the day on the beach in Sicily when we were running.

CRAIG: That’s the problem, you can only remember puerile shit. There was a beach we were on and it’s this beautiful beach, we’re in Sicily, and these nasty barbs are scattered — they’re plants — all over the beach. So, he was like, “Run over there,” and you’re running, going, “Ow, ow, ow!” “And cut,” and you’re just pulling these things out of your feet. That’s kind of what it is. But the emotional stuff, is that what you mean?

Again, I’m not an actor, but I’ve spoken to a lot of actors and directors and they always say there’s one scene, like the camera move, the emotions, whatever it may be, there’s usually something.

STARKEY: For me, it was our last day of filming, and seeing Daniel walk onto set in this old-age, full-body prosthetics. Watching him walk onto set and the whole crew getting silent, and him sitting in his room and then going to his bed and laying down was incredibly emotional. I was very emotional on that day. It was the last day of filming, it was the last scene, and I think that it kind of wrapped up the entire process of it so beautifully. You could feel the weight of that day and the presence that he had. Yeah, that’s a day and a scene that I’ll remember probably the most.

CRAIG: I don’t think in that way. I really don’t. I’m not being a diarist while I’m working. It doesn’t go in. I’m moving on all the time, so nothing really stays with me. I’m like a goldfish. So, it’s hard when I look back on a film and go, “What was harder than another day,” or “What stayed with me?” It’s like it all just stays with me, kind of just as one huge experience. I think, probably, if we were sat having a few beers and I could sort of loosen up my memory a bit, things would start coming back, but I just don’t retain those thoughts in that way.

Queer is in now playing in select theaters.

Lee, who recounts his life in Mexico City among American expatriate college students and bar owners surviving on part-time jobs and GI Bill benefits. He is driven to pursue a young man named Allerton, who is based on Adelbert Lewis Marker.

Runtime

135 Minutes

Writers

William S. Burroughs , Justin Kuritzkes

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