Drew Starkey didn’t audition for Guadagnino’s queer.

The Outer Banks star, who is 30, was sending self-tapes for other projects when Guadagnino was shown one of Starkey’s by a producer friend. Then, Starkey got a call that the director would like to have breakfast with him.

“I was like, ‘OK, that’s insane,’” Starkey says. Over the next couple of months, the two shared many more meals as Guadagnino explained his vision for “Queer,” his adaptation of Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel.

Eventually, Starkey was cast as Eugene Allerton, a drug-addicted discharged Navy serviceman who Daniel Craig’s William Lee becomes infatuated with in 1940s Mexico City.

“It felt really organic. That’s usually not the way it works,” Starkey says. “Luca really wants to get to know his actors as well as possible, not just from a performance standpoint, but from a human standpoint. I didn’t care if anything came of it — I was like, ‘Great, I get to sit down and have conversations with a director and an artist that I look up to and admire. What a beautiful thing.’”

With Queer, Starkey is about to experience the same breakout moment as Guadagnino’s other actors before him, Timothée Chalamet and Josh O’Connor.

The year was 1993, I was just a boy. I grew up doing theater and there was always a passion for it without any kind of understanding of how to do it professionally. I loved being on stage. I was a pretty shy kid growing up, and for whatever reason I think getting up in front of people and performing was a way of expressing myself that I didn’t have in my real life, so it was very fun for me. I ended up going to college for it and studying theater and within that time found this passion for movies. It was kind of always a part of me, but I didn’t start doing it professionally until I was 22.

Growing up in this smaller town in a rural area in North Carolina, movies were such a window into the world that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. It was all of a sudden this access to these different, weird, crazy, amazing people, whereas where I grew up, there’s kind of a code of conduct — to put it lightly — into the type of person you can be. It just really expanded my world. I remember falling in love with movies when I was very young.

It was very bizarre and surreal … It was such a delayed process. We really didn’t get into the kind of publicity of it until a year and a half later, really. At least that was my experience — I kind of got to hide back in the shadows a little bit. But I think that was ultimately good, because if we would have hit the ground running right away after that first season and gone out into the world, it would have been harder for me to adjust to it.

I hadn’t read “Queer” before. I had read “Junkie” in high school, pretending that I knew what was going on like, “I’m reading Burroughs.” But no, after my first meeting with Luca I ordered the book and read it in a day, just barreled through it. I’m very obsessed with that Beat Generation, mostly Kerouac and Ginsberg.

Ambiguity, really, which was a challenge. I remember Luca asking me, “Can you play hard to read?” and I was like, “I do it every day in my life.” I’m a pretty hard to read person, I feel like. But yes, he’s an ambiguous figure and kind of restricted in his own self, but there’s a sense of longing there. I wanted to protect him in a way and kind of guide him through this.

Working with Daniel Craig?

I think everyone’s starstruck when Daniel walks into the room. But within five minutes that sheds away and you’re like, “Oh, right.” He’s an incredibly kind, goofy, beautiful person and very giving actor and a good friend. He’s all of it. I mean it was about the work and we just got into it really quickly. He never took anything too seriously. I was approaching it like, “Oh my god, this is crazy.” But Daniel always kept it light, and I would have imploded on that set if Daniel wasn’t there just to keep it moving.

Establishing your characters’ dynamic?

We certainly had to work at it. There’s kind of a natural progression in the process of filming it anyways, in the story. It’s these two people trying to figure each other out, and we were doing that on set. We had a handful of table reads and Luca was the guiding factor in the way these two operated. He always said, “There has to be love there,” so we always had that in mind. But Daniel and I jumped into movement rehearsals and choreography with each other — that’s a great way to get to know someone. But it felt cohesive and natural. Nothing felt forced. We just jumped in like, “Alright, we’re game.”

Sharing steamy scenes together?

You treat it like you would any other thing. Obviously, you’re more precious with it and you communicate more on the day about people’s comfort levels. But Daniel and I were just game for anything. We just were like, “Let’s go for it, let’s have fun.” So he was a great partner to have in that. I think him and I share that same mentality of just not giving a shit. And Luca was so specific — he wanted us to be as comfortable as possible throughout that process, and we would block off where these intimate scenes would happen and we talked months in advance about what we thought it should be. It was also like a dance. We were trying to figure it out. But those were some of the most fun days we all had on set — just Daniel and I laughing.

Your biggest film role yet?

I always feel like I’m messing it up, especially early on I’m like, “This is not right.” But I knew that I could trust Luca because he would tell you if it’s not right. A lot of times it’s my own insecurities. Us actors are little fragile, insecure people. We just want this approval. Once I was able to shed that after getting into filming, it was kind of smoother sailing. But yeah, it’s always intimidating. No matter what. I mean, I feel that on “Outer Banks” too. The first week or two, I’m like, “Ugh, I’m ruining this.”

What do you hope viewers take away from “Queer”?

Projects you are looking for?

Just to work with people who have a vision and not be too predictable. I want variety, I don’t want to sit in one thing for too long. Also, I’ll work with Luca until I’m dead.