Omar Apollo lost 20 pounds to film a sex scene with Daniel Craig

Omar Apollo decided a physical transformation was necessary before filming his sex scene Foreign.

In a new Interview magazine conversation with colleague Foreign Singer-songwriter Drew Starkey, 27, revealed he has a sex scene with Daniel Craig in the film. He said that while it wasn’t a request from director Luca Guadagnino, he took it upon himself to lose some weight for the role.

“I had to go on the soup diet,” he said. “Luca didn’t tell me to lose weight, but when you’re about to have a sex scene with Daniel Craig, you’re like, ‘Oh, dude, I can’t cheat.’”

“I was 200 pounds because I’m 6’5″. That’s about what I should be, honestly. But I was 181 pounds when the movie came out,” Apollo continued. “I lost 20 pounds because I read in the script that my character had a flat brown stomach. I was like, ‘Damn, I’m not flat at all.’ I had to get it together, and I was on tour with SZA. Luckily, I didn’t have that many lines.”

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Starkey boasted that the sex scene between Apollo and Craig was “so good” and “really sensual.” Apollo then added that he had a “really cool experience” working with the James Bond actor.

“He definitely has a presence that you can feel from afar,” he explained. “I remember asking him, ‘How do you feel when the camera’s on?’ And he said, ‘Honestly, I’m terrified when the camera’s on me.’ I thought that was beautiful.”

“You have to be vulnerable. You have to be open to those emotions,” he added. “It was such an honest answer.”

During the conversation, Starkey revealed that he also did some dieting to prepare for the historical romantic drama. “I lost about 30 pounds,” he told Apollo. “I got a little too thin and Luca was like, ‘Hey, bring it back a little bit.’”

Inspired by the novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs, Foreign follows the insecure William Lee (Craig) as he recounts his life in Mexico City, where he befriends and pursues Eugene Allerton (Starkey), a recently discharged Florida naval officer.

The film also stars Jason Schwartzman, Lesley Manville, Andra Ursuta, Michael Borremans and David Lowery.