Omar Apollo has joined the cast of gay romance film Queer, where he revealed that embracing vulnerability was essential for filming intimate scenes with lead actor Daniel Craig. This marks the rookie actor’s first major role in a film and with a jam-packed cast to boot.
At 27, the singer and actor opened up about his experience filming intimate scenes with Daniel Craig during an interview with fellow actor Drew Starkey for Interview magazine. Both actors admitted that the experience was nerve-racking, with Apollo finding comfort in Craig’s candidness. Craig had shared to Apollo, “To be honest, every time the camera’s on me, I’m terrified.” Apollo found this honesty refreshing, saying, “I thought that was beautiful. You have to be vulnerable. You have to be open to these emotions. It was such an honest answer.” Starkey agreed, adding, “Fear is a good thing, creatively. It leaves you open, allowing more things in.”
Related: Drew Starkey on Filming ‘Queer’s Steamy Scenes with Daniel Craig
Speaking on his preparation for his intimate scenes with Craig, Apollo shares that he wasn’t asked to go on a diet by director Luca Guadagnino, but felt the role asked for it. Prior to the film, the 6’5″ stunner was at 200 pounds, but when filming came around Apollo went down to 181 after doing a soup diet. Apollo attributed his desire to lose weight because of how the character was described in the script–having a “flat brown stomach.’
Prior to filming the sex scenes with Craig, Apollo mentioned in the interview that the two had, “gin and tonics before our scene.” He adds, “It was a vibe. I had a really cool experience with him.” At the press conference for the film at the Venice Film Festival, New York Times journalist Kyle Buchanan shared that Apollo will be, “nude for most of his screen time in QUEER.”
Image via X (@kylebuchanan)
IndieWire revealed a sneak peek of Omar’s sex scene with Daniel Craig from the film:
“Omar Apollo, in full-frontal nudity, in a sad sexual encounter that ends only in semen strewn on a hand towel and Lee (Craig) alone again.”
Image via X (@BuzzingPop)
Speaking to the Washington Post, Craig shared that filming sex scenes can be likened to memorizing choreography, “There’s nothing intimate about filming a sex scene on a movie set. There’s a roomful of people watching you,” adding, “We just wanted to make it as touching and real and as natural as we possibly could,” but he also said that together with Starkey, “We tried to make it fun.”
The film is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival this week and will be distributed by A24 Films in the US in the coming months. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film is based on the 1985 novel by William S. Burroughs.
Sources: Interview, Washington Post, Variety