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Daniel Craig on “Queer” and its depiction of yearning
Daniel Craig is back on the big screen – not as 007, or the smooth Southern private investigator in the “Knives Out” movies, but in the movie “Queer,” directed by Luca Guadagnino. Craig plays William Lee, an American living in 1950s Mexico City, who becomes infatuated with Eugene Allerton, another much younger expatriate (played by Drew Starkey).
In one tender and poignant scene, a translucent image of Lee is seen leaning over towards Allerton. “The sort of invisible hand,” Craig described it. “is what you’re talking about – [something] you hope would happen, yes. The yearning – and hope is a really good word – that something will become of it. Maybe it’s falling in love.”
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Craig’s character is an alcoholic and heroin addict, and undeterred by the reticence of Allerton.
I asked, “Do you think that your character Lee is especially ardent in his overture because the Allerton character is aloof?”
“Maybe, maybe,” Craig replied. “I also think that he’s searching – clearly from the top of the movie, he’s searching for something. And he finds Allerton. And he thinks this is it, this is the one, so therefore he throws everything at it – probably awkwardly, and embarrasses himself in the process.”
“When you walk into the bar and do that bow, that’s (as the young people say) ‘very cringe.'”
“Yes. Is that what they say? Yes, it is very cringe!” Craig laughed. “Yeah, yeah. But that sung to me. I’ve been in situations like that certainly when I was younger, of trying to impress and trying to be kind of that person, and just failing miserably. That really rang out to me.”
To watch a trailer for “Queer” click on the video player below:
The movie is based on the book “Queer,” Beat writer William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical account of his own time in Latin America.
Craig’s latest role harkens back to the grittier parts he was known for in Britain pre-James Bond, such as “Other Voices,” “Sylvia,” “Infamous” and “Layer Cake.”
Daniel Craig was born in the north of England, and at 6 years old saw his first stage production. He was introduced to the theater by his mother: “We lived in Liverpool in the ’70s. There was a theater called the Everyman, it’s still there. They had cheap tickets so everybody could go. A lot of my mum’s friends were designers and costume designers and worked backstage. She was a single mum, and we spent most of our time there.”
“Was it magical to you?”
“It was, yeah,” Craig said. “I think that’s the moment I said, ‘I wanna be an actor.’ I mean, these people would walk off stage, and I’d see them in the bar afterwards. And I’d think they were gods, and they were just drunk!”
His mother’s love for theater, it turned out, ran deeper than her son realized. He found out later that, as a young woman, she had been accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, one of the world’s great acting schools. “Yeah, she was, and she hadn’t told me,” Craig said. “But they couldn’t afford to go, so she had to go home, and went to art college instead up North.”
He was moved once he found out: “She’s always encouraged me. I mean, she sort of gently kicked me out the door, to say, ‘Go, get on with it.’ All the drama schools are in London, everything that was happening, and she said, ‘You gotta go.’ I left and went.”
He was only 16. “She realized I was failing so badly at school, there was really no other option, I think!” Craig laughed.
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He hasn’t just been successful; he’s one of the most recognized actors on the planet, whether he likes that or not.
I asked, “We interview a lot of big name actors on this show, and a lot of them say they don’t like being famous. And it’s not that I don’t believe it, but I need to understand: what does being famous do to your brain?”
“Oh God, well, that’s the big question,” Craig replied. “It can do all sorts of wonderful things, of course, and as an actor, why did I become an actor? Because I like dressing up and showing off and I want people to like me. I mean, it’s like, you want to sort of distill it down to its absolute basics. But what does fame do? I think fame can take you off in all sorts of weird and strange and not very healthy directions.”
“It’s gotta make acting harder in a way, because you can’t, for instance, easily go on the subway and just look at the person across from you and kind of observe life around you?”
“People watching, yes. Yeah, I did it a lot when I was younger, so I’ve got a lot in the bank!”
Daniel Craig has always been known for his intensity. But at 56, his next chapter might not be quite as physically rigorous, being 20 years older than when he was first cast as 007 in “Casino Royale.” “God, remind me, why don’t you?” he laughed. “Life is pain! And that’s why I wanted to stop, one of the reasons I wanted to stop, because I’d throw myself into those movies, each one. From the very beginning I’ve been wanting to do as many stunts and as many of the action sequences as I possibly can. And I’ve injured myself. And I don’t wanna do that. I don’t want to take that risk anymore. I’ve got kids and I’ve got a life. And I want to spend the rest of my life upright if I can.”
“Upright, sort of conserving your energy for them?”
“Well, standing! Yeah, on my own two feet, as opposed to being wheeled around!”
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Story produced by Kay Lim. Editor: Mike Levine.
Legislation to expand Social Security benefits to millions of Americans passed the U.S. Senate early Saturday and is now headed to the desk of President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign the measure into law.
Senators voted 76-20 for the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate two federal policies that prevent nearly 3 million people, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, teachers and others with a public pension, from collecting their full Social Security benefits. The legislation has been decades in the making, as the Senate held its first hearings into the policies in 2003.
“The Senate finally corrects a 50-year mistake,” proclaimed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, after senators approved the legislation at 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
The bill’s passage is “a monumental victory for millions of public service workers who have been denied the full benefits they’ve rightfully earned,” said Shannon Benton, executive director for the Senior Citizens League, which advocates for retirees and which has long pushed for the expansion of Social Security benefits. “This legislation finally restores fairness to the system and ensures the hard work of teachers, first responders and countless public employees is truly recognized.”
The vote came down to the wire, as the Senate looked to wrap up its current session. Senators rejected four amendments and a budgetary point of order late Friday night that would have derailed the measure, given the small window of time left to pass it.
Vice President-elect JD Vance of Ohio was among the 24 Republican senators to join 49 Democrats to advance the measure in an initial procedural vote that took place Wednesday.
“Social Security is a bedrock of our middle class. You pay into it for 40 quarters, you earned it, it should be there when you retire,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who lost his seat in the November election, told the chamber ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “All these workers are asking for is for what they earned.”
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) — that reduce Social Security payments to nearly 3 million retirees.
That includes those who also collect pensions from state and federal jobs that aren’t covered by Social Security, including teachers, police officers and U.S. postal workers. The bill would also end a second provision that reduces Social Security benefits for those workers’ surviving spouses and family members. The WEP impacts about 2 million Social Security beneficiaries and the GPO nearly 800,000 retirees.
The measure, which passed the House in November, had 62 cosponsors when it was introduced in the Senate last year. Yet the bill’s bipartisan support eroded in recent days, with some Republican lawmakers voicing doubts due to its cost. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed legislation would add a projected $195 billion to federal deficits over a decade.
Without Senate approval, the bill’s fate would have ended with the current session of Congress and would have needed to be re-introduced in the next Congress.
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Saturday is the winter solstice and 2024’s shortest day. Here’s what to know about the official start of winter.
The 2024 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, happens on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial event signifies the first day of winter, astronomically.
What is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice is the day each year that has the shortest period of daylight between sunrise and sunset, and therefore the longest night. It happens when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, a line of latitude that circles the globe south of the equator, the National Weather Service explains.
The farther north you are, the shorter the day will be, and in the Arctic Circle, the sun won’t rise at all.
How is the day of the winter solstice determined?
The winter solstice occurs because of the Earth’s tilt as it rotates around the sun.
When the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, the nights last longer. The longest night happens on the solstice because the hemisphere is in its furthest position from the sun. That occurs each year on Dec. 21 or 22.
This year, it falls on Dec. 21 at 4:21 a.m ET, to be precise.
On the summer solstice, when the northern tilt is closest to the sun, we have the longest day, usually June 20 or 21.
National Weather Service
The solstices are not always exactly on the 21st every year because the earth’s rotation around the sun is 365.25 days, instead of 365 even.
Will days start getting longer after the winter solstice?
Yes. Each day after the solstice, we get one minute more of sunlight. It doesn’t sound like much, but after just two months, or around 60 days, we’ll be seeing about an hour more of sunlight.
When will winter officially be over in 2025?
The meteorological winter ends on March 20, 2025. Then, spring will last until June 20, when the summer solstice arrives.
How is the winter solstice celebrated around the world?
Nations and cultures around the world have celebrated the solstice since ancient times with varying rituals and traditions. The influence of those solstice traditions can still be seen in our celebrations of holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, Britannica notes.
The ancient Roman Saturnalia festival celebrated the end of the planting season and has close ties with modern-day Christmas. It honored Saturn, the god of harvest and farming. The multiple-day affair had lots of food, games and celebrations. Presents were given to children and the poor, and slaves were allowed to stop working.
Gatherings are held every year at Stonehenge, a monumental circle of massive stones in England that dates back about 5,000 years. The origins of Stonehenge are shrouded in mystery, but it was built to align with the sun on solstice days.
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The Hopi, a Native American tribe in the northern Arizona area, celebrate the winter solstice with dancing, purification and sometimes gift-giving. A sacred ritual known as the Soyal Ceremony marks the annual milestone.
In Peru, people honor the return of the sun god on the winter solstice. The ancient tradition would be to hold sacrificial ceremonies, but today, people hold mock sacrifices to celebrate. Because Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere, their winter solstice happens in June, when the Northern Hemisphere is marking its summer solstice.
Scandinavia celebrates St. Lucia’s Day, a festival of lights.
The “arrival of winter,” or Dong Zhi, is a Chinese festival where family gathers to celebrate the year so far. Traditional foods include tang yuan, sweet rice balls with a black sesame filling. It’s believed to have its origins in post-harvest celebrations.
Researchers stationed in in Antarctica even have their own traditions, which may include an icy plunge into the polar waters. They celebrate “midwinter” with festive meals, movies and sometimes homemade gifts.