is sitting in the restaurant of the Carlyle Hotel talking about how easy it can be to close yourself off to new experiences.

91裸聊视频淲e get older and maybe out of fear, we want to control the way we are in our lives. And I think it91裸聊视频檚 sort of the enemy of art,91裸聊视频� Craig says. 91裸聊视频淵ou have to push against it. Whether you have success or not is irrelevant, but you have to try to push against it.91裸聊视频�

Craig, relaxed and unshaven, has the look of someone who has freed himself of a too snug tuxedo. Part of the abiding tension of was this evident wrestling with the constraints that came along with it. Any such strains, though, would seem now to be completely out the window.

Since exiting that role, Craig, 56, has seemed eager to push himself in new directions. He performed . His drawling detective Benoit Blanc (91裸聊视频淗alle Berry!91裸聊视频�) stole the show in And now, Craig gives arguably his most transformative performance as the William S. Burroughs avatar Lee in Luca Guadagnino91裸聊视频檚 tender tale of love and longing in postwar Mexico City, 91裸聊视频淨ueer.91裸聊视频�

Since the movie91裸聊视频檚 it91裸聊视频檚 been one of the fall91裸聊视频檚 most talked about performances 91裸聊视频� for its explicit sex scenes, for its vulnerability and for its extremely un-007-ness.

91裸聊视频淭he role, they say, must have been a challenge or 91裸聊视频榊ou91裸聊视频檙e so brave to do this,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� Craig said in a recent interview alongside Guadagnino. 91裸聊视频淚 kind of go, 91裸聊视频楨h, not really.91裸聊视频� It91裸聊视频檚 why I get up in the morning.91裸聊视频�

In 91裸聊视频淨ueer,91裸聊视频� which A24 release Wednesday in theaters, Craig again plays a well-traveled, sharply dressed, cocktail-drinking man. But the similarities with his most famous role stop there. Lee is an American expat living in 1950s Mexico City where he, in sweaty, rumpled linen suits, cruises for younger men while juggling an increasingly debilitating drug habit. (No matter what you91裸聊视频檝e heard, the most truly unexpected sight in 91裸聊视频淨ueer91裸聊视频� is Daniel Craig as an awkward suitor.)

Lee, though, is thunderstruck with infatuation for a poised and prim young man named Allerton (Drew Starkey). The film, adapted by 91裸聊视频淐hallengers91裸聊视频� screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes, proceeds as a love story but also as a profound romantic mystery.

Allerton is enigmatic and aloof, and it91裸聊视频檚 unclear how much he91裸聊视频檚 embraced his homosexuality. Their evolving relationship is a constant confusion to Lee. 91裸聊视频淨ueer91裸聊视频� becomes consumed not just with the question of their unsettled love, but of the tantalizing possibilities of liberation and the painful, long-term sacrifices of repression.

The film, classically filmed on soundstages in Rome91裸聊视频檚 Cinecitt脿, is populated with expansive windows and doorways that seem to ask: What doors to yourself, or to life, are you willing to walk through?

91裸聊视频淢aybe another portal is his open chest. He just goes, 91裸聊视频楶lease come in, come in,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� says Craig. 91裸聊视频淚t applies to art. It applies to everything. Letting one91裸聊视频檚 self go. If you don91裸聊视频檛 do it, how can you ever know? That tragedy of not doing that is greater than the embarrassment of doing it. We91裸聊视频檙e defined by those moments in our lives.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频業 just recognized so many things within him91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淨ueer91裸聊视频� could be such a defining moment for Craig. For his performance, he91裸聊视频檚 widely expected to land his first Oscar nomination. For Guadagnino, making 91裸聊视频淨ueer91裸聊视频� is especially long in coming. He first read the book 91裸聊视频� written in the early 91裸聊视频�50s but, by Burroughs91裸聊视频� own wishes, not published until 1985 91裸聊视频� when he was 17.

For years, Guadagnino, the Italian filmmaker of and contemplated 91裸聊视频淨ueer91裸聊视频� as a movie; he even once drafted his own script. In Lee, he saw a poetic figure.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 really interested in the repression of others,91裸聊视频� Guadagnino says. 91裸聊视频淚 realize many, many times I go back to the theme. The idea of being so vulnerable and ready to be. He doesn91裸聊视频檛 have a sense of pride or a protection of social codes.91裸聊视频�

While they were making 91裸聊视频淐丑补濒濒别苍驳别谤蝉,91裸聊视频� released earlier this year, Guadagnino approached Kuritzkes about adapting Burroughs91裸聊视频� novel. There were considerable hurdles. Burroughs never completely finished the novel, so the filmmakers resolved to finish it for him, writing into the movie an extended third-act ayahuasca trip. But adapting 91裸聊视频淨ueer91裸聊视频� also meant leaving room for its unspoken spaces.

91裸聊视频淭here is so much in the movie that is about the way Lee looks at Allerton and the way Allerton looks at him, and looks away,91裸聊视频� says Kuritzkes. 91裸聊视频淎 lot of that stuff is in the book, but when you91裸聊视频檙e making the movie, you realize the way Daniel91裸聊视频檚 face registers Drew91裸聊视频檚 face tells you what would be communicated in 15 pages of prose.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频極pen to play91裸聊视频�

Guadagnino, convinced Craig was right for the role, approached the actor with the script. In Craig, Guadagnino saw someone, he says, who was 91裸聊视频渙pen to play.91裸聊视频� Within days, Craig, long an admirer of Guadagnino91裸聊视频檚 films, was in.

91裸聊视频淚 just recognized so many things within him,91裸聊视频� Craig says. 91裸聊视频淪omeone who is both repressed and open, and the complicated relationship with love.91裸聊视频�

Though it inverts the presentation of masculinity many associate with Craig, Lee of 91裸聊视频淨ueer91裸聊视频� is more in line with some of the actor91裸聊视频檚 earlier work, like 199891裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淟ove Is the Devil.91裸聊视频� It91裸聊视频檚 worth noting, too, that Craig91裸聊视频檚 other major post-Bond movie role, Benoit Blanc, is also gay. (Hugh Grant plays his subtly suggested partner.)

For 91裸聊视频淨ueer,91裸聊视频� there was extensive preparation, on accent and movement and Burroughs91裸聊视频� own tortured history. But after months of research, the characterization only really emerged once shooting began.

91裸聊视频淚 can91裸聊视频檛 tell you how nervous I was. It was terrifying,91裸聊视频� Craig says. 91裸聊视频淏ut something clicked that day, the first day. And Luca said, 91裸聊视频楾hat91裸聊视频檚 it.91裸聊视频� I was very nervous to try to expose it, but it became a kind of unfolding of the character. I kind of introduced myself to him.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚 think Daniel loves the camera in a way that is intimate,91裸聊视频� adds Guadagnino. 91裸聊视频淏ecause he knows the camera cannot lie and you can91裸聊视频檛 lie to the camera. The love you feel from the camera, to me, is not the love of vanity. It91裸聊视频檚 the love of recording the truth.91裸聊视频�

Starkey, the 31-year-old 91裸聊视频淥uter Banks91裸聊视频� actor, was met with the very different challenge of playing a character with few words on the page and a cryptic presence. He theorized that Allerton is in retreat because it91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频渁s if you91裸聊视频檝e lived your whole life and never seen your own reflection, and someone puts a mirror in front of your face.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淎 question I asked early on was: Is Allerton aware of the game that he91裸聊视频檚 playing? Is he aware that he may have some power over Lee, and does he like it?91裸聊视频� says Starkey. 91裸聊视频淟uca91裸聊视频檚 answer to that was: 91裸聊视频楾hat91裸聊视频檚 a very good question.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�

Sex scenes in 91裸聊视频楺ueer91裸聊视频� and the 91裸聊视频榮alacious91裸聊视频� response

When 91裸聊视频淨ueer91裸聊视频� premiered in Venice, much of the reception focused on the film91裸聊视频檚 steamy sex scenes with Craig and Starkey. Guadagnino laments the temptation of the press to be 91裸聊视频渟alacious.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭hey can91裸聊视频檛 help themselves,91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淏ut we are practical people. People make love. People laugh. People sleep. People inject heroin.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淥ur job is only to make that as truthful as possible, and not shy away from it, not be coy about it,91裸聊视频� adds Craig.

91裸聊视频淎nd can we just clear the table forever? When we were shooting the sex scenes it was so funny,91裸聊视频� says Guadagnino. 91裸聊视频淲e had fun. It was fun, light and then, done, let91裸聊视频檚 move on to the next.91裸聊视频�

As intimately as Craig and Starkey would be working together, they decided to let their relationship unfold naturally.

91裸聊视频淲e didn91裸聊视频檛, like, grab coffee and have a list of ice-breakers or something,91裸聊视频� Starkey says. 91裸聊视频淲e just started working. We jumped into movement rehearsals and that was a great way to learn how to be free with the other person. It never felt like there any walls up.91裸聊视频�

Not having walls up was, in many ways, the abiding nature of 91裸聊视频淨ueer.91裸聊视频� And for Craig, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of his career. He and Guadagnino are already planning another film together.

91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 have any grand plan for my career. It91裸聊视频檚 been OK 91裸聊视频檛il now. It91裸聊视频檚 been going along,91裸聊视频� Craig says, with a grin. 91裸聊视频淭hen something comes along like this and you find a group of people to have this wonderful experience with. It makes me go: I want to keep acting. I never wanted to give up, but if I could get this again, I91裸聊视频檇 love to do it.91裸聊视频�