EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Craig Declares He Doesn't Care About Gen Z's Opinion Over Sex-Filled New Film 'Queer' — 'There are No Rules'
Daniel Craig doesn't care about Gen Z.
Dec. 3 2024, Published 11:38 a.m. ET
James Bond hero Daniel Craig says he's neither shaken nor stirred if prudish Gen Z movie-goers are turned off by guy-on-guy sex scenes in his latest flick, Queer.
The demographic cohort of people born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s argue that love-making shots could be left on the cutting room floor, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
But the 007 stalwart, and co-star Drew Starkey agree they are vital to the flick and both couldn't care less about the sensibilities of Generation Z, with Starkey summing up: "I don’t know if that’s true. Maybe it’s because there’s a much louder voice online."
"I don’t know; I can’t speak to that generation," Craig, 56, said when asked about a 2023 UCLA study indicating that young people are rejecting sex scenes in films.
Craig isn't bothered if movie-goers are turned off by raunchy sex scenes in his latest movie.
But he said of the love-making scenes in the new movie: "You kind of have to leave your ego at the door. You’ve got to kind of just let it go. There are no rules."
His fellow actor, 30, added: "That’s what I learned from you. There’s no ego involved. I’ve never seen a freer actor."
Director Luca Guadagnino’s new film is based on Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs’ novella, published in 1985, which fictionalizes the author’s own experiences of recreational heroin use and his sensual love affair with a man.
Craig said of the love-making scenes in the new movie: 'You kind of have to leave your ego at the door'.
Craig, in his first film outside the James Bond and Knives Out franchises in seven years, plays William Lee.
On the run after a drug bust and enmeshed in a hard-drinking and edgy crowd at one of his regular watering holes, Lee encounters the beautiful and aloof Eugene Allerton (Starkey).
Craig, in his first film outside the 'James Bond' and 'Knives Out' franchises in seven years, plays William Lee.
The film’s first cut came in at three and a half hours before being whittled down to 135 minutes.
And relatively unknown Starkey said of the interest the film has brought: "It’s head-spinning. I can’t really make sense of it — it all feels absurd. I’m just trying to remain very present and calm. I’m in a moment — but the next year, it changes."
Craig said the part touched on the lives of people he's known, adding: "Unfortunately, I’ve known people — that’s touched upon my life in certain ways. So I’ve seen him close-up.”
Craig spoke to an on-set expert to ensure authenticity in depicting drug use.
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Craig spoke to an on-set expert to ensure authenticity in depicting addiction. He said he wanted to get the portrayal of a casual drug user correct and not just play the role of a hopeless junkie hooked on heroin,
He added: "We didn’t want to make this a withdrawal movie. It just has to be part of the story." Lee is not exactly a secret addict. Yet the extent of his substance problems comes as something of a shock to Eugene. I don’t think he’s hiding it.
"I just think he’s a proud human being who’s not showing it. He gets very messy in the movie, but he doesn’t want to be that — he wants to be dignified and elegant, poised."
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