Queer’s Drew Starkey spills the tea about whether he wore a prosthetic during full frontal scenes

The conversation around Queer has finally reached the important question: did Drew Starkey wear a prosthetic penis while filming his full frontal sex scenes?

In Luca Guadagnino’s film, an adaption of the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, Drew Starkey plays discharged American Navy serviceman, Eugene Allerton, who is the subject of infatuation for William Lee (Daniel Craig) an outcast American expat and troubled alcoholic and drug addict in Mexico City.

Despite an age gap, alongside Allerton’s sexual ambiguity and initial lack of interest, Lee’s advances eventually break through and the pair end up heading into the South American jungle in search of a telepathy-inducing psychedelic.

The film includes a number of heady sex scenes that Starkey and Craig fully invest in, the details of which were discussed in a recent interview.

Speaking to TIME Magazine about nudity on screen, Starkey and Craig confirmed that they chose not to be fully naked in the movie.

Both of Craig’s onscreen sex partners, Drew Starkey and singer-songwriter Omar Apollo, who makes his film debut in Queer, have nude scenes in the movie. Starkey confirmed to TIME he wore a prosthetic; Apollo did not confirm nor deny whether he used prosthetics in his full frontal scenes.

When asked about his reasoning for not appearing fully nude, like his co-stars, Craig said: “They’re young. They’re young and beautiful.”

Prosthetics are often used in filmmaking to ensure that an actor doesn’t have to expose themselves. The technique also preserves performers’ dignity and privacy during sex scenes, which are often overseen by an intimacy coordinator.

Speaking about shooting the sex scenes, Starkey noted that movement rehearsals were essential for the actors to get comfortable together and break the ice ahead of shooting.

He explained: “We got to embarrass ourselves in front of one another — and have little accomplishments in the choreography with each other. That imbued its way into everything.”

With similar praise for Queer’s intimate scenes, Craig noted: “Sex is wonderful and messy and complicated, and hopefully we’ve managed to stick that on the screen, because that’s what ­happens in the bedroom.

“We’ve gone for that sort of vulnerability and keeping it as real as it possibly can be.”

The pair have also both entered into the dialogue around straight actors playing gay roles, with Starkey revealing exclusively to PinkNews that he had “no hesitation” about playing a queer character.

Rather, he saw the role – and the opportunity to work with Craig – as a “blessing”.

Meanwhile, Craig said he doesn’t feel it was his “responsibility” to represent the LGBTQ+ community.

He told the Associated Press: “I’m not sure that I can take on, I don’t think that’s my place. That’s too big a thing for anybody to take on.”

Queer is out now.