Former James Bond actor Daniel Craig has said that he has been in some “terrible love scenes” during his acting career and opened up about what makes intimate scenes “real”.
The 56-year-old actor is currently promoting his new movie Queer, from Challengers and Call Me By Your Name director, Luca Guadagnino.
The movie, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, reportedly features some of the “most explicit gay sex scenes ever,” according to critics.
The film, which also stars Drew Starkey and Omar Apollo and is based on a William Burroughs novella, sees Craig play William Lee, an ex-pat living in Mexico City, who gets by on part-time jobs and army benefits. He soon becomes obsessed with a young man, played by Starkey, who he decides to pursue.
Although the graphic sex scenes are likely to cause some controversy both Craig and Starkey have defended Guadagnino’s artistic choices. “We can go on our phones and go on any website and see whatever you want,” Starkey told Variety. “But as a culture, we’re so attuned to that. [This film] came from a loving place that’s so much deeper than abrupt images.”
Craig, who has filmed sex scenes with the likes of Sienna Miller, Lea Seydoux, Monica Bellucci, Eva Green and his real-life wife Rachel Weisz, adds that he’s “been in movies with terrible love scenes. It doesn’t work.”
“You need a director who has a sensitivity, a director who understands — to put it crassly — how to make it real. That’s one’s job on the day: to make it as real as possible.”
Previously, when speaking about Queer, Craig admitted that actors “just have to look after each other” and that “we’re all adults.” The Skyfall star added: “We know what it’s about and try to make the scene as real as you can.”
The Knives Out actor, 57, echoed similar sentiments for Starkey, saying: “He’s such a beautiful human being. We lucked out that he did the movie to have someone that young and so dedicated and also just savvy about the world.”
Craig’s performance in Queer is being tipped to be a major contender come awards season.
The Independent’s Geoffrey McNab writes that “Craig’s portrayal of the dapper, sardonic, self-destructive author ranks with his boldest work. Whatever sexual or drug-induced misadventures befall him, Craig’s queer author never loses his composure. Awards voters are likely to be shaken and stirred both by his poise and his daring.”
