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Daniel Craig on ‘sad’ gay sex scene with ‘beautiful’ Omar Apollo in Queer: ‘It’s about loneliness’ (EXCLUSIVE)

"It's a very sad moment in the movie for me"

By Jamie Tabberer

Daniel Craig and Omar Apollo head and shoulder shots
Daniel Craig and Omar Apollo (Images: Mubi/Attitude)

Daniel Craig has reflected on his sex scene with Omar Apollo in Luca Guadagnino‘s hotly-anticipated new film Queer.

In it, Craig plays a US expat who strike up an intense relationship in the tolerant, bohemian hotspot of Mexico City in the 1950s. The film is based on the William S. Burroughs novella of the same name.

Speaking exclusively to Attitude alongside Luca in London this week, James Bond icon Daniel said the love scene in question was about “loneliness”.

Referring to the former Attitude cover star as “the beautiful Omar Apollo”, Daniel told us: “That scene is primarily about loneliness. For both characters. Omar’s part, and my part.”

“It’s a very sad moment in the movie for me,” he added. “It’s someone looking for something and not finding it.”

“Masculinity is often just a suit of armour” – Daniel Craig

Elsewhere in the interview, the star spoke about exploring vulnerability and masculinity in the same film.

“I’m always interested in that,” he replied. “Masculinity is very often just a suit of armour people put up, for whatever reasons, to hide something. It’s not always negative. Some of it is absolutely glorious. In this movie, it’s to be celebrated, the masculinity.

“But I’m very interested to know what it’s hiding, why it’s there, what it’s protecting.”

In a recent review for Attitude, film critic Guy Lodge gave Queer five stars out of five and called it “a sprawling, lavishly imaginative, humidly erotic adaptation.”

Daniel’s co-star Drew Starkey meanwhile told Attitude on the red carpet at the film’s London Film Festival screening at the Royal Festival Hall in October: “A place like Mexico City was a place of freedom for people.”

“It was beautiful,” he continued. “People were running away, but they were also finding a sense of freedom within themselves, and within a culture. It was a beautiful world to explore.”

Queer, which currently has a 78% ‘Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, hits UK cinemas tomorrow (Friday 13 December 2024).