Daniel Craig Laughs Off Question About a 'Gay James Bond' at Venice Press Conference for Queer

Daniel Craig fielded a question about James Bond's sexuality while discussing his gay drama Queer at the Venice Film Festival.

During a festival press conference held Tuesday, Sept. 3, a reporter asked Craig, 56, and his Queer director Luca Guadagnino whether they thought the iconic British spy character could be depicted as gay while asking Guadagnino, 53, what went into casting Craig for his new film.

"Guys, let's be adults in the room for a second," Guadagnino responded, after the question drew laughter from Craig and a number of press conference attendees. "There is no way around the fact that nobody would ever know James Bond's desires, period."

"Now, the important thing is that he does his missions properly," the director added, drawing laughter from attendees and Craig again. "Darling, I adore you," Guadagnino then said to Craig as he patted the actor on the back of the head.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Craig portrayed Bond across five movies released between 2006 and 2021. He decided to stop playing the character after 2021's No Time To Die. Eon Productions, which produces the James Bond film series, has not yet announced who will play 007 in future films.

The actor and Guadagnino collaborated on Queer, in which Craig plays a man who finds a romantic connection with a younger partner (Drew Starkey) while living in Mexico City in 1950, per the festival's synopsis.

Craig's other famous leading character, the detective Benoit Blanc from the Knives Out movies, was depicted as gay in that series' 2022 entry Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

"I have been an admirer of this gentleman for a long time despite his looks and [his prestige] and I had this intuition that I suffocated within me," Guadagnino told reporters Tuesday, while saying he initially did not think Craig would take up an offer to star in Queer.

"I'm pragmatic — you have to make movies, you cannot daydream," he said of Craig's casting. "A gentleman that is in the room was really the one who was not pragmatic and said to me, 'What about Daniel Craig?' And I said 'I thought about it, but he's never going to say yes,' and he said to me, 'Let's ask,' and he said yes. And the yes was a definitive yes. He's one of the greatest actors and it's a privilege to work with someone like him."