Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming films Queer is going to have at least one steamy sex scene featuring two (very different) heartthrobs. In a new Interview Magazine conversation with fellow Queer star Drew Starkey, Omar Apollo revealed that he filmed a sex scene with Daniel Craig.
“I had to get on the soup diet. Luca did not tell me to lose weight, but when you’re about to have a sex scene with Daniel Craig, you’re like, ‘Oh, dude, I can’t be looking off,’” Apollo told Starkey about the 007 actor. “I was at 200 pounds because I’m six-five.”
“It’s around where I should be, honestly. But I got down to 181 when the movie came. I lost 20 pounds because I read in the script that my character had a flat brown stomach,” he added. “I was like, ‘Damn, I’m actually not flat right now.’ I had to get it together, and I was on tour with SZA. Luckily, I didn’t have that many lines.”
Starkey described Apollo and Craig’s scene as “so good” and “very sensual,” while Apollo, 27, described Craig, 56, as “such a legend” and “super vulnerable,” sharing that he and Craig were “drinking gin and tonics” before their sex scene.
“I had a really cool experience with him. He definitely has this presence to him that is felt from far away,” Apollo said. “I remember asking him, ‘How do you feel when the camera’s on?’ And he said, ‘To be honest, every time the camera’s on me, I’m terrified.’ I thought that was beautiful.”
“You have to be vulnerable. You have to be open to these emotions,” he added. “It was such an honest answer.” The pair also talked about Starkey getting ready to play his “gay-ass role” in the film.
“Part of the allure of Allerton with Lee is not being able to nail him down and define him. That’s what makes him interesting to him. There’s a constant discussion about whether he’s queer or not,” Starkey explained. “Playing that ambiguity was the fun part.”
Queer is based on the 1985 novel by William Burroughs and is set to premiere at Venice International Film Festival this week. The film is set in Mexico City in the Forties and follows Lee (Craig) as he lives with American college students and works part-time jobs following World War II. He then falls for a drug-addicted Navy serviceman played by Starkey, who gives in to Craig’s advances.
Apollo spoke to Variety in July about his acting debut, telling the outlet that he needs to be better trained to step up in acting. “I feel like I need a little more training and studying when it comes to [acting and screenwriting],” he told the outlet. “With music, I fixate on [a producer or artist] and go through their whole discography, so I plan to take a similar approach with film.”
He added: “I’ve been doing music for almost 10 years, and only now am I feeling completely confident in my abilities. I have so many ideas that I would love to actualize in film one day, but I’m not rushing the process.”
In the Interview conversation, the God Said No singer shared that the cast had a lot of fun together, going to a drag show, a rave, and celebrating Apollo’s birthday. “I had a lot of good birthdays and a lot of bad birthdays, but that was my best birthday, the most intense. I remember we walked in the rain at 5 a.m. with the homies… It was a good vibe,” Apollo said.
