Drew Starkey talks Queer and how American audiences are overly “uptight” about sex scenes

Drew Starkey is in Luca Guadagnino‘s new movie Queer with Daniel Craig, which has several queer sex scenes.

While some viewers might find these scenes shocking, Starkey believes they’re important for “better understand[ing] ourselves.”

Talking to the Hollywood Reporter, Starkey said: “I think as American audiences, we can be very uptight about that stuff, sex scenes, whatever, which is strange.”

“It feels a little prudish to be like ‘ooh if that’s in a movie that taboo’ but if it’s on our phones, it’s fine. [I’m glad] sexuality is coming back to the theaters because I think it’s imperative we integrate sexuality into our stories, it’s the way to better understand ourselves. You learn so much about a person by looking at the way they are intimate with one another,” he added.

Queer is based on William S. Burroughs‘ book of the same name. Daniel Craig plays an American expat and heroin addict who meets Eugene (Starkey), a young student unsure about his sexuality.

Craig’s character, Lee, becomes obsessed with Eugene, leading to an intense desire between them.

Starkey admitted playing Eugene “was very daunting at first” because “it was different than most of the characters” he’s played before.

“There’s so much subtlety and delicacy to it. It was a real challenge because no one can read him, no one understands him, least of all (Craig’s character) Lee. So it was my job to try, as best I could, to understand what was going on inside this guy.”

He thinks Eugene’s confusion about his sexual identity reflects a time “when [gay men] didn’t even have a language to define themselves.”

The book was written in the 50s and published in the 80s, a time of progress in LGBTQ+ rights but also widespread homophobia.

In one scene, the actors wrestle on the floor with sexual tension. Starkey and Craig practiced this on their second day of rehearsals.

Starkey said: “We jumped into it, just grabbing and throwing our bodies on top of one another, rolling around, getting intermingled. Rolling around on the floor with someone, the second day you met, is a pretty good way to get to know them.”

“Everything after that was very easy,” he added.

Starkey has been in other queer-themed movies like Love, Simon, and also starred in The Hate U Give with Amandla Stenberg.

He played Rafe Cameron in Outer Banks. Queer is Starkey’s first time playing an openly gay character.