‘Queer’ Made Drew Starkey a Movie Star. Its Impact on Him Was Even More Profound

“This is my breakfast,” Drew Starkey declared as a plate of medium-rare steak and potatoes was placed in front of him, a nearly empty cup of black coffee beside him. He woke up at noon, after watching his new movie late at night. Strangefor his final day in Toronto. This is the last meal the 30-year-old star will have before he flies home, pausing charming autumn festivalHe just walked the red carpet in Venice like Angelina Jolie And Nicole Kidman; He’s new to the A24 family. Things are moving fast. As he searches for a fork, it’s natural to wonder how he’ll take it all in.

The answer to that isn’t simple, in part because Starkey has been on a journey of self-reflection since he was cast in the role. Strange over a year ago. A film adaptation of the 1985 semi-autobiographical novel by William S. Burroughs, directed by Luca Guadagnino take an elliptical approach The story of a romance between two men in mid-century Mexico City. Lee (Daniel Craig) becomes infatuated with a handsome, mysterious young man named Allerton (Starkey), whose sexual proclivities are maddeningly confusing. They become intimate—as documented in vivid, passionate detail by Guadagnino—and end up traveling across South America and deep into their own subconscious (via a strange ayahuasca sequence). A line of dialogue, spoken by both at different times, haunts their courtship: “I’m not gay, I’m disembodied.”

Starkey mentioned that quote at one point during our meal. A sense of loss washed over him as he finished producing. Strange, one of the many reasons he’s still processing the film’s impact on him. Its professional impact may be more obvious: The Netflix star Outer shore and teen movies like Love, Simon reintroduces himself here with a rich, complex, and courageous performance that could open new doors. But as we chat, he seems more interested in the personal doors Allerton might have opened for him.

At the film’s Toronto premiere the night before our interview, Starkey revealed on stage that Guadagnino first described Allerton to him as a “nasty bitch.” Naturally, we started there.

Vanity Fair: Let’s start with “nasty bitch”. How do you react when you receive such a description of your character?

Drew Starkey: Luca was being cheeky, but in previous conversations he had spoken of Allerton as cold, slippery, and very difficult to understand—and Lee was always trying to get a pulse or define him in some way. He was always out of reach or out of reach. There’s a quote that Burroughs included in the original Strange from 1985, one of the last paragraphs. In the sentence, it says something like, “What happened to the knife called Allerton?” That image has always been a real crutch for me. So, what a nasty bitch. [Laughs]

You talked about how you’re still getting to know him.

I’ll give you a quote from Burroughs. I’ve been thinking about his quotes over the past few days.

Just in the last few days?

[Laughs] Yeah, a year and a half ago. But he was talking about writing. Addict vs. writing Strange. He said he felt like he was the writer. Addict but he felt as if Strange writing about him. That kind of reflected my experience during filming. I felt like I was doing everything, and I had to let Allerton guide me—which is very different from how I’ve worked in the past. It was a lot of meditation and letting things happen. But it was hard. It was really hard.

What does it feel like to surrender material things?

It feels like you’re hanging on to a plane crash. You’re like, “I hope I survive this.” There’s an energy to it. [Costume designer] Jonathan Anderson is your friend Elton John‘s, who helped a lot with his wardrobe and what he wore. A lot of things used to be Allerton’s image, what Lee was drawn to and drawn into. That was really the focus: What would the silhouette look like here?