Drew Starkey, Your Favorite Outer Banks Villain, Is a Movie Star Now

One of the many pleasures of Outer Banks, Netflix’s smash-hit surfing-and-treasure-hunting melodrama, now in its fourth season, is watching Drew Starkey play a villain—a twitchy, tormented rich kid who, so far, has murdered a cop, hired a hit man to rub out his father (then changed his mind), and nearly strangled his sister to death. Rafe’s a bad guy, but Starkey lets us see the broken kid beneath the hunky buzz cut and narcissistic impulses. It’s a capital-P performance, and one would assume it’s what led director Luca Guadagnino (Challengers) to cast him opposite Daniel Craig in Queer, his buzzy new adaptation of the sexually charged autobiographical novel by William S. Burroughs, in theaters now. Nope. Guadagnino had never seen or heard of Outer Banks, or Starkey for that matter. He just saw the right audition tape, and Starkey got his big movie break. The 31-year-old actor, and this month’s ELLE Man, joined our Zoom from London, where Queer was in competition at the BFI London Film Festival.

Queer is funnier than I expected—it has a madcap energy.

Yes. In the true nature of Burroughs and his wittiness—that’s definitely something we found along the way. And Daniel’s a great physical comedian.

There’s a wild scene late in the movie where you and Daniel Craig’s character drink ayahuasca together in South America, and it’s funny and romantic and very physical—almost like modern dance. How do you rehearse a scene like that?

It was the longest rehearsal process for one scene that I’ve ever done. We had started rehearsing that months before we shot it. We started in New York with these brilliant choreographers, Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, and it involved this kind of interpretive dance to poetry and movements. It started off very poorly [laughs]. But after that first day, we were comfortable with each other. I mean, it’s such a great way to bond with someone.

Have you ever had an ayahuasca experience yourself?

I haven’t. I think I’d like to one day. I just don’t know if the timing’s right. I feel like it’s one of those things that has to be calling you to do it. It hasn’t called me yet.

Did you consider trying it as research for the movie?

I thought about it very intensely, yes. But I may not have been the same person starting the film if I had just gone for it. So I was like, You know what? I’m going to save it for after.

To me, that scene was more intimate than your sex scene together.

That was Luca’s thought. There’s almost something deeper than sex that it’s portraying.

Starkey, Guadagnino, and Craig attend the 81st Venice International Film Festival.

Is it true that Guadagnino cast you without ever seeing Outer Banks?

He says that, but who knows, though? He could be lying [laughs]. It would be very funny to see Luca watching Outer Banks. Maybe he wouldn’t have cast me. I had auditioned for something unrelated to Queer—I don’t even know what it was—and one of Luca’s producing partners showed it to him. I think he’s one of this generation’s best filmmakers. So it was such a great honor for him to ask me to do it. And then I was terrified. I’ve never been more scared.

Let’s talk a bit about Outer Banks. Rafe is one of the show’s quote-unquote villains, but he doesn’t think he’s a villain, and I assume you don’t look at him that way either. In fact, I imagine you must love him on some level?

I mean, there are a lot of times where I do not like Rafe [laughs]. I don’t think as an actor you necessarily need to like the person you’re playing. What you do want to do is explain why they do the things that they do. And so in that way, I’ll go to bat for him all day. I think he’s a person who really wants to be loved for who he is, and he never really has been. He’s also a person who has been through a lot of trauma, and it’s sent him down some really dark corridors. You meet him in a bit of a different place in this fourth season. I think he’s worn down by life. He’s just looking for a connection with another person and his family. He realizes how important that is, and he’s going to do that. By any means necessary.

The cast of Outer Banks.

As we’re talking, the second half of the new season isn’t out yet, but it seems like Rafe is on a bit of a redemption path, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Yeah, people ask me a lot, “Is he redeemable?” And I don’t know, that’s dependent on an individual basis. Maybe he is to one person, but he’s not to another. I don’t know if he is to me. I mean, I hold on to grudges, so I wouldn’t be so quick to forgive him.

Okay, on to our questionnaire. First: Name a woman—outside of your family—whom you admired growing up.

[Long pause] This sounds so crazy—Emily Dickinson. I remember reading her poetry for the first time in my freshman English class, and I don’t—it’s something unexplainable, something about her words. It felt like she was speaking my internal dialogue. She had a very difficult, isolated life, and she wrote these things with no intention of notoriety or anything. I think there’s a lot to learn from that—working on your art without the intention of it being seen.

Who’s your favorite female movie character of all time?

Nala from The Lion King. She was just strong, and she puts Simba in his place. And I think all the women in my life were like that.

Name a female musician you always find yourself singing along with.

Yebba or SZA. Something about their vocal range—it’s so creative and I can’t do it. I’m terrible.

In your opinion, who is the coolest woman in the world right now? Defining “cool” however you want.

Rihanna. Still. It’s RiRi. There’s nothing cooler. It’s always Rihanna.

Okay, so what’s the Rihanna song that you’re singing along with in the car?

Oh God. Probably “Bitch Better Have My Money” [laughs].

Tell us the story of the first time you got dumped.

Yeah, it was third grade. I got broken up with on the playground. We’d started dating the day before, so it was like a 24-hour turnaround. I think I was on the jungle gym, and she came up to me and said, “Hey, I don’t think this is working.”

“I don’t think this is working!”

Yeah, but she was right. It wasn’t working. It was a tumultuous 24 hours.

Who was the woman in your life who taught you the most about women?

My mom, of course. My mother is perfect. An incredible guide to me and my brother and my sisters. A good leader, too.

What’s something about women that you had to learn the hard way?

Communication. Vocalize it. I’m generally a very quiet person.

Which female co-star have you learned the most from or has given you the best advice?

Lesley Manville was such a comfort for me shooting Queer, not even in terms of direct advice, but just watching her and experiencing being with her and working with her on set. I was in awe. One of the nicest, most curious human beings I’ve ever met, and she just leads with such a soft touch.

You have a long car trip to take. Out of all your female friends and costars over the years, who are you bringing along for company?

Miss Maddie Cline. We’ve been on a lot of road trips together. We’ve spent hours in cars together. She reminds me of my two younger sisters, and from day one when I first met her, I was like, “You’re my sis.” I can make fun of her and she can make fun of me, and we do all the time. She’s just one of my favorite people.

A version of this story appears in the November 2024 issue of ELLE.

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Devin Gordon is a writer based in Brookline, Massachusetts, and the author of So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets—the Best Worst Team in Sports.