Daniel Craig, best known for his suave and action-packed portrayal of James Bond, is stepping into an entirely different world with his latest film, ‘Queer’.

The Hollywood star recently appeared on the Italian talk show ‘Che Tempo Che Fa’, where he candidly discussed his decision to take on the role and why the film’s intimate scenes were essential to the story.

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“There are so many things that embarrass me—sex is not one of them… we all do it!” Craig quipped, adding that the film wouldn’t have been complete without those moments. “Those scenes were important to show these people physically together. Without that, the film would have been emptier.”

Based on William S. Burroughs’ novel, ‘Queer’ follows Lee, an American expatriate played by Craig, who becomes obsessed with an emotionally unavailable ex-Navy serviceman, played by Drew Starkey.

The story dives deep into Lee’s fixation and his desperate attempts to decode whether his companion has interest in men, taking them on a journey through drunken nights and an adventure into the South American jungle.

Daniel Craig, looking sharp in a beige double-breasted suit paired with a crisp white shirt and patterned brown tie, admitted that starring in ‘Queer’ while still donning the 007 tuxedo would have been impossible.

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“I couldn’t have done it during Bond. Not because I wouldn’t have wanted to, but because I would have felt really self-conscious with people thinking I was trying too hard to be a good actor,” he explained.

His departure from the Bond franchise in 2021 after five films allowed him to explore new, unconventional roles.

Though Craig was already familiar with Burroughs’ ‘Junkie’ and had “pretended” to read ‘Naked Lunch’, he hadn’t encountered ‘Queer’ until the project came his way.

Burroughs’ writing draws influence from drug use and the social constraints of his time, something Craig believes the film captures.

“It’s all slightly off-kilter, with a modern soundtrack but the feel of a movie from the 1940s,” he said. “It blurs the lines around homosexuality, which was illegal at the time. You had to have a male front and hide it away with no freedom of expression, and I guess it has always fascinated me by the artifice of masculinity.”