VENICE, Italy (AP) — Venice Film Festival regular guest Luca Guadagnino is back at the Lido to debut his new Daniel Craig film “Queer” on Tuesday night.

Guadagnino, a festival favorite, had to cancel a splashy red carpet premiere for the sexy tennis drama “Challengers” last year, when the studio postponed its release due to the actors’ strike. But the filmmaker returns with another highly anticipated project, an adaptation of a William S. Burroughs novel about an American expatriate in 1950s Mexico City who develops an obsession with a young male student.

Hours before the premiere, Craig spoke to The Associated Press about the challenges of the role, including nudity and sex scenes. His character, William Lee, spends his days drinking tequila in sweaty bars and his nights chasing men or doing heroin alone. It’s a raw and revealing performance, but Craig trusted his director’s vision.

“I think if it was wrong, (Luca) would say something about it, but if it was right, he’d just say, you know, move on. Let’s do it. Let’s go. We’ve got it,” Craig said. “Which can be a little bit unsettling, but I think after a while you just say, ‘I’m in his hands.'”

“Challengers” screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes wrote the script for “Queer,” an adaptation of a novel written in the 1950s but not published until 1985. It’s a story that others have tried to adapt over the years, including Steve Buscemi and Oren Moverman.

“I always thought Burroughs had a very public face, and I wanted to know what his private side was like,” said Craig, who spoke to a few people who knew him. “I think you see more of that in ‘Queer’ than in his other books.”

Craig knew Burroughs and his Beat contemporaries, such as Ginsberg and Kerouac, but he did not know the details of his time in Mexico.

“It was fun to dive into that,” Craig said.

To play the role of the young woman he was in love with, Eugene Allerton, Guadagnino cast promising actor Drew Starkey, who said he read the novel in one day.

Starkey said he found working with Guadagnino and Craig intimidating.

“I knew their work. I was a fan of their work,” he said. “I think it’s nerve-wracking to be in a certain situation. And that added another layer to it.”

Craig and Starkey co-star with Lesley Manville and Jason Schwartzman in the film, which is in the main competition. A24 recently acquired “Queer” for theatrical distribution.

The 81st Venice Film Festival has entered its final week, with the premiere of “Joker: Folie à Deux” on Wednesday. There have been plenty of movie star moments, with the likes of Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton and Michael Keaton gracing the red carpet outside the Sala Grande theater.

While there is no clear favorite, the films have sparked debates and discussions: “Babygirl’s” representation of sexuality and desire; the authenticity of “Maria” and Jolie’s performance; the Almodóvar’s achievements in working in the English language; what we really want from a Pitt and Clooney reunion; and or “Indemnification,” Alfonso Cuarón’s seven-part Apple TV+ miniseries, which is not in competition, can rightly be considered the festival’s best film.

The prizes will be awarded on the last day of the festival, September 7.

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