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Excellent news! When he hosted the BBC's film review show, he always did a Bond special if their was one coming out. That will be recorded and kept!!! :-bd
I expect the cast will be on the Graham Norton show too, although not confirmed as of yet that would be filmed on the 21st October to be aired on the 23rd?
I tell you something now. I think EON Productions ánd Sony were pressing this time around on the actors to be as...vague as possible during publicity interviews. I definately think that. Perhps it's because of the SonyLeaks. Both cast and crew seem to be more firmly 'lying' about plot details as compared to previous Bond productions. Is it nice? No...but the speculation gets bigger that way I think ;-). Which is only good!
I'm pretty sure they're actually just mirrored - but yes better grading indeed.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/books/daniel-craig-talks-latest-bond-instalment-spectre-in-gq-australia/story-fnki1bz0-1227559863380
..and that's exactly, where I thought, he is right now. He just doesn't know. And part of me wants him to leave and get away from the line of fire.
“That’s the question, isn’t it — do you leave the party early or do you stay and get p***ed on the floor? It’s a big debate and at the moment I just don’t know,” he admits.
It's either the Treasury or the Foreign Office. They're located on opposite sides of the same street with almost identical triple archways.
Time Out interview:
If you want to know how James Bond – sorry, I mean Daniel Craig – starts the day, I can tell you. Two double espressos with honey. Plus poached eggs on toast. With another double espresso to follow. So basically: caffeine, more caffeine and some more caffeine, with honey to soften the blow. Craig needs all the help he can get when we meet in July: just four days ago the 47-year-old finished an epic eight-month shoot for ‘Spectre’, which saw him hopping back and forth between Pinewood Studios near London and Mexico City, Morocco, the Austrian Alps and Rome.
It’s the British actor’s fourth outing as Bond, and his second with the director Sam Mendes after the success of ‘Skyfall’ – which in 2012 took over $1,000 million globally. He thinks – thinks – ‘Spectre’ is going to be a stylish, classic Bond movie, and Craig is not an actor who talks bullshit. He’s blunt. He’s thoughtful. He’s wary of being precious. But he’s also nervous. At one point a look of horror passes over his blue eyes. ‘God, hubris is a terrible thing in this business,’ he says, checking his enthusiasm. ‘I just pray the movie is going to be great.’ So, no pressure, then. Another double espresso, please…
So you’ve just finished eight months of filming ‘Spectre’. Did it all end with a bang or a whimper?
‘It’s always a whimper. I wish movies ended and we all high-fived each other and said, “Yeah! We did good work!” But they tend to peter out. We filmed in Morocco for the week before the very end and that felt like the real end of the film. We went out there and blew shit up! We did stuff that felt like a Bond movie. It felt like a good way to finish.’
What do you most want to do when you finish such a long shoot?
‘Literally, just have a holiday. It’s fair enough, no? I just want to switch my brain off. What usually happens is it’s 6am on a Sunday and I’m bolt upright in bed thinking that I’ve got to go to work. It’s about switching that feeling off, turning the alarm off and going to sleep. I drink a lot more too. I’ve started this week. Just relaxing.’
Did you always plan to play Bond for a fourth time? It's been ten years now.
‘Well, I was contracted to do another one. That was all set up. But at the studio there was a real keenness to get it done as soon as possible. In fact, there was a conversation at one point that went: “Let’s film two movies back to back.” I just went: “You’re out of your fucking minds.” In the nicest possible way. They’re just too big.’
You described ‘Skyfall’ as ‘Bond with bells on’. So how would you describe this new Bond movie, ‘Spectre’? Same bells, different tune?
‘There you go, that’s perfect! The complicated answer, without me having to think of some clever line, is that “Skyfall” did really well and broke all sorts of records and was a massive success. Then we had to do another one – which for all of us, the director Sam Mendes included, felt incredibly daunting. What the fuck are we going to do? Once we started, we realised we couldn’t think about “Skyfall”. We had to think about this film.’
'So if that was bells on, there’s more of everything in this film. It felt completely the right thing to do. We’ve got the character of Moneypenny back, and Q, and now Ralph Fiennes is playing M, so it was, like: right, let’s get all of them into the story. Things started building from there. Everyone’s been banging on to me about the gadgets. “Where are the gadgets?” Before it hasn’t felt right, and it’s not like we’ve made this one heavily into gadgets, but we’ve snuck a lot of stuff in. So, yes, it’s got more bells!’
There was more humour in ‘Skyfall’ than in ‘Casino Royale’ or ‘Quantum of Solace’. Will that continue with ‘Spectre’?
‘The humour in “Skyfall” was conscious. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. I just think there’s room for it. Especially when you’ve got someone like Sam Mendes at the helm who is the truth police – and I’m the truth police too. We’re always asking: is this real? Then the humour can happen. But it’s not gag writing. They’re not the kind of movies I want to make. Really, really, really good gags are few and far between. Those writers are out there, but they’re rare. Look at people like Seth Rogen and people who make those movies, a lot of that is improvisation. They’re funny people and I’m not used to doing that sort of thing. But we’ve got people like Ben Whishaw and Rory Kinnear who are very easy with humour. But, yes, short answer: we tried to put more humour into this movie!’
Were you involved in bringing Sam Mendes back to direct?
‘Yes, I was begging him. Begging him. They offered him loads of money, of course, but I was also begging him to do it. They wanted to make the movie very quickly at first and he said he couldn’t. He just didn’t have time. He had three theatre productions he was working on. How he fucking does it I have no idea. And they were saying: we have to get moving on the script and he was, like: “No, I can’t do it.”’
Were you disappointed when it looked like he wouldn’t do it?
‘I was gutted. I felt we’d just got somewhere, me and him. “Skyfall” was very fraught. He’ll happily tell you. The two of us butted heads a lot and had lots of very passionate discussions. But we got through it. We got through his nervousness – it was his first Bond movie. He came on a set with a crew I’ve known for a number of years. We’re all fucking pals. He’s thinking: What’s the fucking dynamic here? And I’m nervous because I’ve asked him to do the film and I want him to be comfortable but I also want to push him. And we’re not just strangers, we know each other, and so we can shout at one another. It became a proper friendship on this new movie. I felt massively supported by him, in a different way. He had my back and I certainly had his.’
There were stories during this shoot that you were helping to write the script. Were they true?
‘It’s not like I sit down and write the script. Because I can’t write scripts. If I could write scripts, I’d be writing scripts, believe me. The writer John Logan came in and gave us the bones of something and then two writers came in and we worked with them and Sam. The way it works is that I’d wake up in the middle of the night with an idea and write it down and send it to Sam and he ignores me or doesn’t ignore me, or talks to me the following morning and we develop it from there. So I’m not physically writing things down.’
Playing James Bond is a lot about how you look – the clothes, the walk, the fitness. Do you ever get fed up with all that?
‘It’s a drag. The best acting is when you’re not concerned about the surface. And Bond is the opposite of that. You have to be bothered about how you’re looking. It’s a struggle. I know that how Bond wears a suit and walks into a room is important. But as an actor I don’t want to give a fuck about what I look like! So I have to play with both things. In a way that works, as that’s Bond: he looks good and he doesn’t give a fuck what you think he looks like!’
The most famous image of you as Bond is you in your blue trunks coming out of the sea in ‘Casino Royale’. How do you feel when you look at that now ten years on?
‘I don’t look at it! I don’t look at it, weeping, going “Wasn’t I beautiful!” Everything like that has been a voyage of discovery. I was aware of what was needed to be Bond but it still goes against everything I believe in. You’ve met me a couple of times, I’m not very cool. I’m not the coolest human being. I wish I was, but I’m not. And I don’t pretend to be cool. But playing James Bond, you have to be cool, and what the hell is cool? You could write a dissertation on it! That was a big accident, that particular shot. I was pretending to swim in shallow water and then I stood up and walked out of the water! I was pretending to be cool by swimming, I thought it looked stupid and stood up and I walked off – and that was the shot!’
Can we expect any similar moments in ‘Spectre’?
‘Am I getting my kit off in this movie? Yes, I’ve been working out for six months. Of course I’m getting my kit off!’
Do you ever look back and think: How the hell did I end up playing James Bond?
‘I know, it’s ludicrous, it’s ridiculous. When I first got approached, I just thought: You’ve made a mistake. I don’t know, it’s still crazy.’
What does playing Bond not allow you to do as an actor?
‘Every idea I’ve had for a Bond movie, I’ve stuck into this one. It’s gone in. The Bond bank is dry. If you’re asking me what would I do with another Bond movie? I haven’t a clue. Go into space? Let’s do it! They already did it. Let’s do it again.’
No, my question is what does Bond not allow you to do generally as an actor, beyond Bond?
‘Oh I see, Bond allows me to do anything I want to in some respects. But it’s changed my working life in an incredible way. There are more opportunities. I could do many, many things. But it takes an awful amount of time. If anything, the restriction is that it is incredibly time-consuming. That’s the restriction.’
There’s always so much expectation and talk around a new Bond film. Have you got used to the passionate fans and how much they care?
‘You can’t think about it. I don’t go on the Internet any more. I think if you’re famous, the Internet is evil. I really think that. If you’re famous, it makes you paranoid. Or it makes you more paranoid than you already are. Because if you’re famous and you go on the Internet for half an hour, you realise people are talking about you. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, some of that will make you paranoid. I just don’t do it anymore. It’s the enemy of creativity.’
Bond has a ‘special’ relationship with women. Is he a dinosaur?
‘Well I think you have to walk a thin line. I think it’s okay for him – not to be misogynistic, that’s too strong a word – to find women a little difficult, shall we say? That’s a character thing. If you start judging him completely on that, I think you’re lost. And that comes with casting. What you do is, you do your best to make the parts for the women in the movie as strong and as interesting as possible. Otherwise, I’m like: forget it. Because that world, as far as I’m concerned, doesn’t exist any more. Characters like that exist. People do think like that, so there’s the conflict. Put that in a movie. Bond still wants to have sex. I still think he wants to fuck anything with a pulse. It’s about how the women change him. That, for me, is interesting.’
Can you imagine doing another Bond movie?
‘Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.’
You want to move on from Bond for good?
‘I haven’t given it any thought. For at least a year or two, I just don’t want to think about it. I don’t know what the next step is. I’ve no idea. Not because I’m trying to be cagey. Who the fuck knows? At the moment, we’ve done it. I’m not in discussion with anybody about anything. If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.’
Do you care who plays Bond after you?
‘Look, I don’t give a fuck. Good luck to them! All I care about is that if I stop doing these things we’ve left it in a good place and people pick it up and make it better. Make it better, that’s all.’
You won’t be backseat-driving then?
‘Oh Christ, no. How fucking sad would that be? “Oh look, it’s Daniel Craig, he’s on set again!” No!’
If an actor was offered Bond and came to you looking for advice, what would you say to him – or her?
‘Literally I’d say two things. Firstly, it’s your decision. Don’t listen to anybody else. Well, do listen to everybody, but you have to make the choice at the end of the day. It’s your bed to lie on. And don’t be shit! Don’t be shit. You’ve got to step up. People do not make movies like this any more. This is really rare now. So don’t be shit.’
And if someone rang you and said: 'I’ve taken the 007 gig'. What advice would you have for them?
‘Don’t be shit! Go for it. Embrace it. Some clichéd line like that. But no, just make sure you’re great. You’ve got to push yourself as far as you can. It’s worth it, it’s James Bond.’
DTD
And if someone rang you and said: 'I’ve taken the 007 gig'. What advice would you have for them?
‘Don’t be shit! Go for it. Embrace it. Some clichéd line like that. But no, just make sure you’re great. You’ve got to push yourself as far as you can. It’s worth it, it’s James Bond.’
In this age of social media everything one says gets plucked to pieces and taken out of context. Social media is highly negative anyway in general when commenting on things.
There are far more worse things said by other actors in interviews. At least Craig's interviews are always entertaining.
The only Bond actor that always was a gentlemen and never ever said something inappropriate was Roger Moore.
I beg to differ. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Ha. I suggest picking up one of his books, or enjoying a night in his company.
Roger Moore is a 'Saint'. An upstanding representation of the best of England.
Absolutely agree. Even more so in his later years.
And still very supportive and appreciative of the series.
Here we go again...
Thought we just heard he'll keep going as long as he's physically able?
Reviews will be held to then at the earliest or more likely the Friday 23rd or the night of the premiere.
It really depends how good it is, if it's Skyfall-league, they'll probably let reviews break 21st
The Skyfall press screening was on the 12th, Baz at the Mail managed to get his review out that night. As the Spectre press screening isn't until the 21st we will have to wait until then.
But then they screened Uncle months in advance. Didn't help. Every film is different but I hope they screened it a little earlier for some media re their confidence, and we'll then see some hopefully very enthusiastic brief comments before the 21st by someone with an earlier viewing.
Listening to Sam Mendes, he sounds like a sailor who can see the horizon fast approaching and couldn’t be happier to reach dry land. When we speak, it’s just over a month before the new Bond movie, ‘Spectre’ opens in cinemas, and as the 50-year-old British director puts it, there’s ‘no way back now’. He says it’s been a ‘gruelling’ experience to follow ‘Skyfall’ with a movie that involved even more globetrotting, as well as filming action scenes that required shutting down the centre of Mexico City for two weeks and flying helicopters over London’s River Thames at night. Yet, finally, ‘Spectre’ is pretty much finished: ‘The picture is locked, the score is almost entirely recorded and we’re about to go into a final sound mix which will take about three weeks.’ All that’s left now is for Mendes to unleash the movie on the world and see how audiences react to the ‘very big ideas’ he’s been fighting hard to keep secret for the best part of two years. Are they about to do something incredible and kill off Bond? Reveal that Q is his father? Kickstart a love affair between Bond and M? We’ll just have to wait and see…
Daniel Craig told us that he was ‘begging’ you to direct another Bond movie after ‘Skyfall’. Is that true?
‘There was a small threat of physical violence and there were offers of free tickets to see Arsenal play Liverpool. [Mendes is an Arsenal fan; Craig supports Liverpool.] Seriously, it was very flattering and it made a big difference. Making “Spectre” has been more gruelling than making “Skyfall”. But it was also more enjoyable. A large part of that has to do with the fact I felt very in sync with Daniel. I had a real ally.’
Presumably there was persuasion from other quarters too…
‘Yes, there was. But in truth I wasn’t persuaded to do the movie. There were other issues. I wasn’t available to start on the movie immediately, and that’s what they wanted. There was also talk of doing two movies back to back. And I said: I literally can’t do that. Physically, I’ll die. Not to mention Daniel. So that was also in the air. I also had some very big ideas for the story that I wanted them to be behind. That’s hard to talk about until you’ve seen the movie.’
How big are those ideas?
‘Well, it would be the equivalent in “Skyfall” of asking: “Do you mind if I kill off M?” Once I felt like we had a great central story for Bond, I was in. It took a while and it takes headspace. These things aren’t easy when 23 movies have been made around the same character!’
So, this big idea in ‘Spectre’ that we can’t discuss. It was your idea?
‘Yes, it was an idea I pitched strongly very early on, yes. And they were enthusiastic, but it took some working out. Actually, there were two ideas, and I felt like they moved everything forward. My fear was that after “Skyfall”, where we introduced the idea of characters ageing, Bond ageing, and even a character dying, that somehow we couldn’t just go back and do a nice action-adventure movie. “Skyfall” changed the map.’
But surely you have to be careful not to back Bond into storytelling corners that he can’t get out of next time round?
‘Yes, but you could argue that it’s amazing how much Bond will withstand. Bond regenerates, just like Doctor Who regenerates. It will regenerate if there’s an audience for him and there’s enough imagination set to work on his stories. It’s become one of the great mythologies of modern times. It belongs to everyone, and you have to believe that, however far you push it, it will never die. Someone else will have a go and their take will be completely different. All you want is to have something to say. It’s not just about having a good time.’
You said making ‘Spectre’ was more gruelling than ‘Skyfall’. Why?
‘Just many, many more locations. Last time, we shot a little bit in China, but otherwise it was Turkey and England. Here, we were shooting in Mexico City, Northern Sahara, Tangiers, various parts of the Alps and Rome, as well as London. In a way, “Skyfall” was an anomaly: it was very strange to have a Bond movie, so much of which was set in England. “Skyfall” was smaller than the standard Bond model, a little more streamlined. There’s more globetrotting here, and so every two months there was a different crew, different rules, different climate, different timescale. That can be wonderful: it can give you new energy. But it’s also pretty wearying.’
How do you deal with all the rumours around the making of a Bond movie?
‘It sounds peculiar, but you have to embrace it. These movies are a dialogue with their audience. It’s not a dialogue that just takes place in the two and half hours you’re watching the movie. The dialogue begins two, three years earlier and it evolves over that period. They will review and comment on everything from the choice of title, car, cast, actor, poster image, first trailer, second trailer and everything else. That’s an important part of making the film. You have to acknowledge it’s a two-way process. On the other hand, you have to seal yourself off from too many opinions as it does affect what you’re doing. For example it’s quite odd to be cutting a trailer for a movie that is only a third finished.’
You must have known that the title ‘Spectre’ would raise rumours that Blofeld was back as the villain…
‘Yes, yes of course… And you know, the movie will reveal all in that regard. It’s nice to be only a few weeks away from people being able to find out. You don’t have to be playing cat and mouse the whole time. But you want to present some mysteries that are going to be solved by seeing the movie. When you’re making a detective story: who wants to go in knowing who the murderer is? I’m not being coy, I just don’t want to ruin people’s enjoyment of the movie.’
Are you confident that some very strong mysteries have been preserved?
‘Yes, we’ve managed to get this far, so yes. Before “Skyfall” opened we were terrified that the death of M was going to be revealed before the movie opened. It actually was in a tabloid months before. But there were so many wrong rumours that nobody picked up on that one as they thought it was just another rumour. That’s one good thing about being in a multi-rumour movie!’
What were the toughest action scenes to pull off this time?
‘I think the opening in Mexico City is pretty full on. And London is pretty full on. Try staging a sequence on the River Thames at night when it’s an unlit river. It’s very difficult. We lit it up like a Christmas tree. There were 28 generators along the banks. But that ignores a massive night-time car chase in Rome. And a huge Alpine sequence. Both of which challenge anything in the last movie for technical difficulty.’
And what about Daniel Craig’s Bond this time round? What’s new? He’s not an actor ever to tread water.
‘No, he is the opposite of treading water! He has no neutral gear. He’s found a great balance in this movie, that’s all I’ll say. He fully inhabits the role now. In all respects. There is a wisdom and vulnerability as well as the credibility of someone who can kill a man. The darkness is present but there’s also romance in this film. He spent most of the last movie playing catch-up. Here, he’s the main driver of the story and much more pro-active. He’s given much more to do.’
Can you imagine him or you doing another Bond movie?
‘Well, you know, never say never – and I hear the groans, it’s a terrible cliché. I think for Daniel, only he can answer. For me, I think it’s been an incredible five years doing both movies and it’s probably time for something else. And for someone else to make their own part of the Bond myth. It’s someone else’s job to come in with a new colour and energy and do it their way. I’ll be in the front row to see that.’
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Hallelujah!! Bond in SF didn't really have a bobbins what was going on
Same with actors.
Good analogy, @Risico007. I hate those kinds of questions that reports insist on asking celebrities. "What are your plans for next season?" they ask, 30 seconds after the World Series has been won. Asking that question to DC so soon after filming is like asking someone who just pigged out at an all-you-can-eat buffet what he wants for supper.