Challengers director Luca Guadagnino has explored many characters’ queer sex lives in his films, but James Bond certainly won’t be one of them.
During a press conference in Venice for his new film Queer alongside star Daniel Craig (who played the fictional superspy in four movies), Guadagnino was asked about the process of casting Craig, and whether cinemagoers could eventually see “a gay James Bond.” Rather than pontificate about LGBTQ+ representation, however, Guadagnino quickly deflected the question altogether.
“Guys, let’s be adults in the room for a second,” Guadagnino said. “There is no way around the fact that nobody would ever know James Bond’s desires, period. The important thing is that he does his missions properly.”
Craig, for his part, immediately threw up his hands and rolled his eyes at the question, muttering “I mean, please” — possibly because Craig’s Bond has already been hinted as bisexual. In 2012’s Skyfall, Craig’s Bond is captured and tied up by cyberterrorist Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), who strokes Bond’s face erotically while remarking “there’s a first time for everything.” Studio executives reportedly wanted to cut Bond’s rebuttal — “What makes you think this is my first time?” — but producer Barbara Broccoli says she refused, electing to make the Bond franchise’s homoerotic undertones more textual.
Guadagnino’s frustration is fair, of course: a spy of Bond’s stature would likely keep his true desires and attractions close to the vest, even if he does go around identifying himself by name all the time. Then again, previous films have absolutely gone out of their way to explore Bond’s romantic inclinations — most notably Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, Craig’s first two Bond films, which hinge on Bond’s ill-fated love for British Treasury agent Vesper Lynd. There is precedent for a Bond film that’s candid about what the spy is really feeling, although Guadagnino reserves his right to observe that his missions are the focus.
But of course, Guadagnino himself isn’t attached to the Bond franchise, just its most recent poster boy. “Darling, I adore you,” Guadagnino told Craig after the question, per People magazine. Queer sees Guadagnino adapt Beat writer William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel of the same name, with Craig starring as Burroughs’ self-insert protagonist William Lee, who pursues a younger man, Eugene Allerton (Love, Simon’s Drew Starkey). The film also stars Omar Apollo, Jason Schwartzman, and Lesley Manville.
“I’m pragmatic — you have to make movies, you cannot daydream,” Guadagnino told reporters regarding Craig’s casting for Queer. “A gentleman that is in the room was really the one who was not pragmatic and said to me, ‘What about Daniel Craig?’ And I said ‘I thought about it, but he’s never going to say yes,’ and he said to me, ‘Let’s ask,’ and he said yes. And the yes was a definitive yes. He’s one of the greatest actors and it’s a privilege to work with someone like him.”
