Andrew Rannells has been winning positive attention as queer characters on stage, film and television.

With Nick Kroll in Friday’s “I Don’t Understand You,” Rannells is in a decidedly different gay adventure.

“At the beginning of the movie our characters are on this romantic 10th anniversary vacation in Rome,” Rannells, 46, explained in a Zoom interview. “So we walk around Rome and eat gelato. Then it got a little more stressful when the murders start to happen.”

Yes, “I Don’t Understand You” quickly veers into comedic horror and killing. Several in fact, including a nice little old Italian lady who is murdered twice.

“The first is an accident. Let’s be clear,” Rannells said with mock gravity.

So, who and what kind of people are these two?

“Well, as an actor you’re not really supposed to judge your characters, right? You’re supposed to understand where they’re coming from.

“And where they’re coming from, in my opinion, is a great place of love. They really want to get back to America to adopt this child and start their family.

“They’re so committed to supporting each other, helping each other that, yes, that does translate into homicide. Strangely, they are such a united front — even in that — that was so much fun to get to do it.

“One of the things I loved about the script and these characters,” he discovered, “is that as messed up as this all is, they really do support each other and stay very united as a couple. I love that aspect.

“Yes, it is demented. As an audience member I love things where you’re following a story and you find yourself very unexpectedly rooting for somebody who’s making really terrible choices.

“I hope that when audiences see this movie that they do get on board. Ultimately, you want these guys to get away, you want them to get out of Rome and get back to America and start their family, as messy as they make this vacation.

“I’m not condoning murder. That’s not what I’m saying. But in this context, I hope people stick with us.”

As for his out status and choice of roles, “Gay people are like snowflakes: There’s really no two that are alike. But there was a perception that there’s only one way to play a queer person.

“That’s not the case — and that’s another thing that I really loved about this script! They just happen to be gay — and then they behave really poorly. I hadn’t read anything like this and found it very refreshing that this gay couple wasn’t completely blameless. They make some really terrible choices. And I like that.”

“I Don’t Understand You” opens in theaters June 6