Drew Starkey

Behind-the-Scenes Training

Drew Starkey never set out to become a generation's favorite villain. The actor was born in 1993 in Hickory, a city in North Carolina that rarely appears on the film industry's maps. His training at Western Carolina University gave him the technical tools before Hollywood knew how to spell his name.

Success took its time arriving.

For years, she played supporting characters who barely lasted a few minutes on screen. In 2017, he appeared in an episode of Ozark, and in 2018 he had a brief role in The Hate U Give. They were paying jobs, but necessary for understanding how big productions work.

Before filming, he reads the script until he has memorized all of his co-stars' lines. Starkey prefers to arrive on set with the story's structure fixed in his mind so he can improvise on a solid foundation. It's a quiet work method he applied in his early years in Atlanta.

The Streaming Explosion

The premiere of Outer Banks in 2020 marked a shift in how his career was perceived. Starkey played Rafe Cameron, a character with a broken psychology who demanded exhausting physical intensity. Casting directors saw in him a capacity for violent vulnerability that was rare in teen dramas.

And audiences responded with an immediate online obsession.

But Starkey avoided being typecast as a teen idol. Rather than accepting every generic rom-com, he chose to wait for projects with more edge. So in 2022, he joined the new version of Hellraiser directed by David Bruckner.

Body horror allowed him to explore darker material. That film wasn't chasing easy applause; it was proving that his physique wasn't his only currency in the streaming industry.

The Venice validation

The arrival of 2024 brought the project that definitively changed his international status. Luca Guadagnino cast him to star in Queer alongside Daniel Craig. Playing Allerton was a major acting challenge given the erotic and emotional weight of William S. Burroughs' original novel.

Taking risks always pays off.

Filming took place at Cinecittà Studios in Rome under strict professional confidentiality. Starkey spent weeks building the physical chemistry with Craig before the cameras started rolling on the sets recreating 1940s Mexico. Critics at the 2024 Venice Film Festival praised his ability not to be overshadowed by a global star.

Queer had an estimated budget of $50 million and costume design by Jonathan Anderson.