Few filmmakers working today make movies as sensual — or as sensuous — as Luca Guadagnino. From the sun-ripened romance of Call Me By Your Name, to the cannibal carnalism of Bones And All and the mouth-watering ménage à trois at the centre of this year’s Challengers, the Italian auteur has been making movies sexy again since long before sex (or a lack thereof) in cinema became a daily discourse driver. And his latest, a long-gestating adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical book Queer — in which Daniel Craig plays a lustful American ex-pat who falls head-over-heels for a young buck (Drew Starkey) in mid-century Mexico City — could well be his most smouldering work to date.
For Daniel Craig, whose path first crossed with Guadagnino’s some 20 years ago, just before a little franchise called James Bond catapulted him into the global spotlight, an opportunity to work with the Suspiria filmmaker at long last — especially on a project as emotionally evocative as Queer — wasn’t to be missed. "It's a love story," Craig says of the movie, talking to Empire for our world-exclusive Andor Season 2 issue. "It's about lust and desire, all of these carnal emotions, that are universal to everyone. I thought, ‘I could make something of this.’”
Central to that lust and desire is the connection Craig’s character, William Lee, forms with the inscrutable object of his obsession, Eugene Allerton (Starkey). It’s a bond — both physical and spiritual — that you may be surprised to learn Craig and Starkey nurtured through, of all things, the medium of dance. No, really. “Neither Drew nor I are dancers,” laughs Craig. “But by having that as a starting point, during rehearsal, rolling around with somebody, that’s where it all starts. I hope viewers are watching these two and recognising there’s something there.” Spycraft, sleuthing, throwing shapes… is there anything Daniel Craig can't do?
Read our full feature on Luca Guadagnino’s Queer — speaking to Guadagnino as well as stars Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey — in Empire’s Ultimate 2025 Preview, on sale Thursday 21 November. Pre-order a copy online here. Queer arrives in UK and Irish cinemas on 13 December.