‘Queer’ cast and crew in NYC: ‘It’s not a story of unrequited love, it’s a story of un-synchronized love’
“What was it that I couldn’t stop thinking about this book since I read it [as a teenager]?” wondered director Luca Guadagnino about William S. Burroughs‘s novel that inspired his new film “Queer.” “I was fascinated both by the writing of Burroughs. In fact, after I read ‘Queer’ and I discovered Burroughs through ‘Queer,’ I went through all of his canon in the years afterwards. But probably the thing that really was fascinating to me … is that this is a very profound love story.” Guadagnino discussed the film after a special New York City screening on Sunday, October 6, along with screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, costume designer J.W. Anderson, and actors Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey.
“Queer” tells the story of William Lee (Craig), a fictionalized version of Burroughs. The American expat, living in Mexico City in the 1940s, meets and becomes infatuated with a younger man, Eugene Allerton (Starkey). Guadagnino explained that he and Kuritzkes “both agreed, separate and then together, that this was a love story … We had to find the clues of the love at the heart of it, and resist the temptation of making it as an unrequited love story.” Kuritzkes added, “It was really this lovely process of getting to talk with Luca about our shared vision for this movie for a long time before I actually started writing. So by the time I was actually putting pen to paper, I already felt like I was writing our movie.” But he didn’t have an actor in mind for the lead role. “I was really tracking and following the character of Lee more than I was thinking of who was going to eventually play him.”
Craig had “wanted to work with [Guadagnino] for a long, long time,” and “I saw what Luca was talking about. I saw the love story in there.” But “I didn’t see it as a massive challenge.” He actually felt the role was in his “wheelhouse.” He thought of Burroughs during this period as “this big open heart, and he’s looking for another heart at this point in his life.” And in Allerton he might have found that: “There’s this coming together, and this sinking into each other, and there’s also the repelling, and the complication, which is this moment where the relationship could be broken.”
As for Starkey, Guadagnino was “hypnotized by both the behavior in the [audition] tape, what I was seeing, the person I was seeing, and the face was so cinematic to me.” Starkey said, “It was a strange, it was one of the more organic audition processes I think I’ve ever had.” The actor “didn’t really care what came of it. It was just an honor to meet an artist that I look up to, so it felt very relaxing.” But he got the part, and he understood when Guadagnino explained “in one of our first table reads. He said, it’s not a story of unrequited love, it’s a story of un-synchronized love. And I think that kind of opened the door.”
“Queer” had its world premiere in competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and it was also selected by the New York Film Festival for the spotlight gala. It’s scheduled for a limited release in the United States by A24 on November 27, 2024. It’s a top Oscar contender for Best Actor for Craig’s performance, which ranks among the the top five contenders in that category according to the combined predictions of Gold Derby users. Where else might the film make the cut? Make or update your predictions here in our predictions center.