Drew Starkey on Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, Sex Scenes With Daniel Craig

Drew Starkey didn’t audition for Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” — instead, the project found him.

The 30-year-old “Outer Banks” star was sending in self-tapes for various other projects when Guadagnino was shown one of Starkey’s by a producer friend. Then, Starkey got a call that the “Challengers” and “Call Me by Your Name” director would like to get breakfast with him.

“I was like, ‘OK, that’s insane,’” Starkey tells Variety over Zoom from his L.A. home. He’s sporting a buzzcut and mustache, and his black tee is contrasted by a psychedelic painting serving as the background. Over the next couple of months, the two shared many more meals as Guadagnino explained his vision for “Queer,” his adaptation of Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel. Eventually, Starkey taped for Eugene Allerton, a drug-addicted discharged Navy serviceman who Daniel Craig‘s William Lee becomes infatuated with in 1940s Mexico City — and he got the part.

“It felt really organic. That’s usually not the way it works,” Starkey says. “But I think it’s such a testament — Luca really wants to get to know his actors as well as possible, not just from a performance standpoint, but from a human standpoint. And I didn’t care if anything came of it — I was like, ‘Great, I get to sit down and have conversations with a director and an artist that I look up to and admire. What a beautiful thing.’”

Now, with “Queer” premiering at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday night, Starkey is about to experience the same breakout moment as Guadagnino muses before him, like Timothée Chalamet and Josh O’Connor. Below, he chats with Variety about becoming a film star, shooting steamy scenes with Craig and why his role in “Queer” was his biggest acting challenge yet.

Tell me a bit about how you got started in acting.

The year was 1993, I was just a boy… No, I grew up doing theater and there was always a passion for it without any kind of understanding of how to do it professionally. I loved being on stage. I was a pretty shy kid growing up, and for whatever reason I think getting up in front of people and performing was a way of expressing myself that I didn’t have in my real life, so it was very fun for me. I ended up going to college for it and studying theater and within that time found this passion for film and movies. So yeah, it was kind of always a part of me, but I didn’t start doing it professionally until I was 22 or 23.

What were some of your favorite movies as a kid?

Growing up in this smaller town in a kind of rural area [in North Carolina], movies were such a window into the world that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It was all of a sudden this access to these different, weird, crazy, amazing people, whereas where I grew up, there’s kind of a code of conduct — to put it lightly — into the type of person you can be. It just really expanded my world. I remember falling in love with movies when I was very young.

My dad showed me a lot of Paul Newman, like “Cool Hand Luke,” when I was like 13. We had “Forrest Gump” on — I watched that movie from the ages of 8 to 19. I’ve probably watched it 100 times. And then, kind of on my own, discovering Paul Thomas Anderson films. I remember watching “There Will Be Blood” when I was 13 or 14, and that just broke the levee. I was like, “This is what film can be.” And then that opened the floodgates to a million other filmmakers.

You got your first taste of fame during the COVID-19 pandemic in Netflix’s “Outer Banks.” What was it like having your life change overnight, but being unable to experience it fully?

It was very bizarre and surreal … It was such a delayed process. We really didn’t get into the kind of publicity of it until a year and a half later, really. At least that was my experience — I kind of got to hide back in the shadows a little bit. But I think that was ultimately good, because if we would have hit the ground running right away after that first season and gone out into the world, it would have been harder for me to adjust to it.

Now we’re here, with “Queer” marking your first time on the film festival circuit. Were you familiar with Burroughs’ work before?

I hadn’t read “Queer” before. I had read “Junkie” in high school, pretending that I knew what was going on like, “Yeah, I’m reading Burroughs.” But no, after my first meeting with Luca I ordered the book and read it in a day, just barreled through it. I’m very obsessed with that Beat Generation, mostly Kerouac and Ginsberg.

What sort of sense did you get of your character from both the book and from Guadagnino? What did he want you to bring to Allerton?

Ambiguity, really, which was a challenge. I remember Luca asking me, “Can you play hard to read?” and I was like, “I do it every day in my life.” I’m a pretty hard to read person, I feel like. But yes, he’s an ambiguous figure and kind of restricted in his own self, but there’s a sense of longing there. And I wanted to protect him in a way and kind of guide him through this.

I think Allerton, as a counterpart to Lee, that’s when he makes sense. Lee’s constantly trying to crack open his skull and see what’s inside and open him up, and sometimes that happens and sometimes all the walls are put up. He’s very mysterious and ambiguous, but also loving. And I’m still — it sounds crazy, but I swear I’m still asking questions about him. I still think about him. He was very hard to crack and it was the biggest challenge I’ve ever had as an actor, which was really fun.

Tell me about working with Daniel Craig. Were you starstruck the first time you met him?

I think everyone’s starstruck when Daniel walks into the room. But then of course, within five minutes that sheds away and you’re like, “Oh, right.” He’s an incredibly kind, goofy, beautiful person and very giving actor and a good friend. He’s all of it. But yeah, I mean it was about the work and we just got into it really quickly. He never took anything too seriously. Of course, I was approaching it like, “Oh my god, this is crazy.” But Daniel always kept it light, and I would have imploded on that set if Daniel wasn’t there just to keep it moving. He’s the best.

How did you two get to know each other and establish your characters’ dynamic?

Well, we certainly had to work at it. I think what’s good is there’s kind of a natural progression in the process of filming it anyways, in the story. It’s these two people trying to figure each other out, and we were doing that on set. We had a handful of table reads and Luca was the guiding factor in the way these two operated. He always said, “There has to be love there,” so we always had that in mind. But Daniel and I jumped into movement rehearsals and choreography with each other — that’s a great way to get to know someone. But it felt cohesive and natural. Nothing felt forced. We just jumped in like, “Alright, we’re game.”

You and Daniel share some pretty steamy scenes together. What was it like filming those?

You treat it like you would any other thing. Obviously, you’re more precious with it and you communicate more on the day about people’s comfort levels. But Daniel and I were just game for anything. We just were like, “Let’s go for it, let’s have fun.” So he was a great partner to have in that. I think him and I share that same mentality of just not giving a shit. And Luca was so specific — he wanted us to be as comfortable as possible throughout that process, and we would block off where these intimate scenes would happen and we talked months in advance about what we thought it should be. It was also like a dance. We were trying to figure it out. But those were some of the most fun days I think we all had on set — just Daniel and I laughing.

This is your biggest film role yet. Did you feel intimidated at all, especially working with an auteur like Guadagnino?

I always feel like I’m messing it up, especially early on I’m like, “This is not right.” But I knew that I could trust Luca very quickly because he would tell you if it’s not right. A lot of times it’s my own insecurities. Us actors are little fragile, insecure people. We just want this approval. Once I was able to shed that after getting into filming, it was kind of smoother sailing. But yeah, it’s always intimidating. No matter what. I mean, I feel that on “Outer Banks” too. The first week or two, I’m like, “Ugh, I’m ruining this.”

What do you hope viewers take away from “Queer,” and from your performance specifically?

Oh, I hope they don’t hate me, really. That’s a request. I hope in a way that this film could potentially be that gateway film, like “There Will Be Blood” was for me when I was 14. I think if I was 14 watching this film, it would break a levee and it would really motivate me to watch other films of the like. This film is incredibly unique and singular and its own thing, but I hope it kind of shines a light on a whole new side of cinema for people.

Going forward in your career, what kind of projects are you looking for?

Just to work with nice people and people who have a vision and not be too predictable. I want variety, I don’t want to sit in one thing for too long. Also, I’ll work with Luca until I’m dead, so.