RT interviews Daniel Craig

In an exclusive interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Daniel Craig tells considerably less than all, but still plenty.

When it came to the specifics – the title for example – Craig was being cagey, telling us, with a wry grin, that no, there was no title yet, and laughing as we put to him the suggestion that it was The Lady Expects Too Much. “Really, is that the rumour? That’s quite good,” he laughed, “I should write that one down…”
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But he was willing to let slip some details about the plot. “It carries on from where the last one stopped,” Craig told RT, “We set up in the last one that there’s this organisation that is destabilising the world’s economy because they want to take it over, and that’s his job now, to go out and stop them.”
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Casting news has recently revealed a potential villain in Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly star, Mathieu Almaric. “I’m over the moon with his casting,” Craig told us, “I met him very briefly on Munich but I didn’t do any scenes with him. Now I’ve got to know him on Bond and I saw the Schnabel movie and thought it was amazing.”
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And that line is interesting enough on its own – Bond 22 has only recently started principal photography, perhaps suggesting that if he’s already gotten to know Almaric, his character may be featured heavily in the film. On the suggestion that he was the Algerian boyfriend of Vesper Lynd, Eva Green’s character in Casino Royale, we again saw the wry smile as Craig hinted, “there is a connection there, yes…” …
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“I’m no less nervous than I was but I’m very happy with what we’ve put together for this one. The fact that Marc Forster’s come in to direct it just makes my job a lot easier. He’s taken care of a lot of stuff that I just don’t have to think about and I’m just getting on with acting.”
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And, he says, the pressure of taking on the mantle of James Bond gets no easier the second time out of the gate. “I don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable with it,” he said, “I mean, it’s James Bond. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to that place and get Zen about it; it’s not that kind of role. But I’m enjoying what we’ve shot so far and I’m planning to enjoy as much as I can of this filming process. Because, otherwise, why do it?”

Amalric Confirmed for Bond 22

According to Digital Spy,

French actor Mathieu Amalric has confirmed that he is to play the villain in the next James Bond film

Of course, I had Max von Sydow’s comment on this on Sunday, and rumors have been swirling for a week or three, but this is the first report I’ve seen that claims Amalric himself said so.

Interestingly, Amalric has played the son of former Bond villains twice. He’s currently in The Diving Bell and Butterfly as the son of Max von Sydow: NSNA’s Blofeld. In 2005, he was in Munich (with Daniel Craig) where he played the son of Michael Lonsdale: Moonraker’s Hugo Drax.

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Max von Sydow drops a bomb on Bond 22!

The Film Experience has an interview up with Max von Sydow, who is promoting his new movie, The Diving Bell and Butterfly. Starring as von Sydow’s son in Diving Bell is Mathieu Amalric, who has been strongly rumored, lately, to be the villain for Bond 22. I’ll let von Sydow tell the rest (emphasis added):

N: Were you familiar with Mathieu Amalric before making the movie?
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MVS: I didn’t know him. I met him for the first time in front of the camera …which happens all the time. Unfortunately.
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N: Then you really have to find that familial connection quickly.
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MVS: This can be very absurd. I don’t like this situation. I’d rather be at least a little bit acquainted with actors I work with. He’s a very good actor. He has directed also. He’s done a lot of good work.
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MVS: He’s directed films also. He’s going to be Blofeld in the next James Bond.
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N: Oh! [editors note: Max von Sydow also played Blofeld in the 1983 James Bond film one-off Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery]

What? Blofeld? What?