Daniel Craig on queer sex scenes, Playing an Addict and Drew Starkey

Singer Omar Apollo makes his acting debut in Queer as a hustler who has sex with Daniel Craig, but the James Bond star says he didn't have to worry about calming the newbie's nerves.

“Omar is a beautiful human being,” Craig told me recently at the Barbara Broccoli-hosted screening of the Luca Guadagnino-directed film at the CAA. “You just have to look out for each other. That's all. We are all adults. We know what it’s about and try to portray the scene as realistically as possible.”

The film, based on the novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs, stars Craig as an American writer in 1940s Mexico who falls in love with a young fellow expat, played by Outer Banks breakout Drew Starkey.

You look so dirty in the movie. Your nails are dirty. Have you just wanted to take a shower the whole time?

In the 1940s, people didn't shower as often, maybe once a week. But we also wanted to see the ink under his fingernails because he is a writer but there are no scenes in the film where he writes. We wanted to express that through the ink under his fingernails, reminding us that he is a writer.

I'm in recovery and I have to say I could feel the drugs and alcohol throughout the entire film. There was this almost trippy feeling.

I take that as a compliment. I have friends who are junkies, who have been junkies. I've watched what it does to them and I've watched how these things affect them. But we didn't want it to be a study of an addict, because I don't think it's that kind of film. And let's face it: Burroughs was an addict his entire life until he died (Burroughs died in 1997 at age 83). He took it very seriously.

What was the chemistry like between you and Drew?

He is such a beautiful person. We were lucky that he made the film, to have someone so young and so driven and also just knowledgeable about the world.

Have you seen Outer Banks?

No, I haven't, but I know he's a big star. He's a big star. He is very mature. He knows what he's doing. Simply dedicated. When you work with dedicated people, it's very easy.

“Queer” is scheduled to hit theaters on November 27th.