Daniel Craig opens up about filming explicit gay sex scenes in new movie 'Queer'

Daniel Craig has officially jumped into the Oscar race.

The James Bond actor, 56, on Tuesday brought his new film "Queer" to the 2024 Venice Film Festival, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, it received a nine minute standing ovation at its premiere. Directed by Luca Guadagnino ("Call Me By Your Name"), the movie takes place in Mexico City and stars Craig as American expat William Lee.

"His encounter with Eugene Allerton, a young student new to the city, shows him, for the first time, that it might be finally possible to establish an intimate connection with somebody," according to the Venice synopsis. Drew Starkey stars as Eugene in the movie, which is based on the William S. Burroughs novel.

According to IndieWire's Ryan Lattanzio, "Queer" features the "most explicit gay sex scenes I can remember in any mainstream movie," while Vulture's Nate Jones reports they are "notably more explicit" than those in "Brokeback Mountain" and "Call Me by Your Name."

During a press conference in Venice, the first question pertained to what it was like to film the sex scenes. A journalist noted that they are "like nothing we've ever seen before in a mainstream movie," not just because they are explicit but because of the "happiness" on display.

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"There's nothing intimate about filming a sex scene on a movie set," Craig quipped. "There's a room full of people watching you. We just wanted to make it as touching and as real and as natural as we possibly could."

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Craig added that his co-star, Starkey, is a "wonderful, fantastic, beautiful actor to work with, and we kind of had a laugh. We tried to make it fun." He also recalled rehearsing dance choreography with the actor months before filming started and noted, "Dancing with someone is a great icebreaker."

Starkey also said that he and Craig both felt open to "try new things" on the movie.

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"When you're rolling around on the floor with someone on the second day of knowing each other, I think that's a good way to get to know someone," he joked.

Guadagnino, meanwhile, recalled being moved by the "profound connection" between the two characters described in the book and the "romanticism of the idea of the adventure, and the adventure with someone you want and love." "Queer" is the director's second movie of the year after the tennis drama "Challengers."

Craig has already been earning Oscar buzz for the role, with some pundits predicting he will be nominated for best actor at the 2025 Academy Awards. He departed the role of James Bond in 2021's "No Time to Die," and "Queer" is his first movie role since 2018 that isn't part of the James Bond or "Knives Out" franchises.

At one point during the Venice press conference, one journalist asked whether there could ever "be a gay James Bond," prompting laughter and leading Guadagnino to say, "Guys, let's be adults in the room for a second." Craig ignored this part of the question but said he took the role in "Queer" in order to work with Guadagnino and because "if I wasn't in the movie and I saw this movie, I'd want to be in it."