Shaken not stirred
Fran Infante gets the update on Daniel Craig on the launch of his debut as Star and Producer in Flashbacks of a Fool as well as his return to the beloved role of Agent 007 in the upcoming Bond film Quantum of Solace...
Fran: You’ve known Baillie Walsh (writer and director) for over ten years what made you decide to take on this role in between Bond films?
Daniel: I just felt that he should be making movies. And I’ve always felt that way. He’s a fantastic storyteller and this is what he should be doing. He wrote this script about five years ago with me in mind and said ‘I want you to do it one day’ and I said ‘absolutely, we’ll do it.
F: What was filming in South Africa like?
D: Wonderful. I love that part of the world. The first job I ever did was in Zimbabwe on The Power of One, that was 90, 91 and we couldn’t shoot in South Africa and there was discussions going on about somebody on the film who had been known to work in South Africa and there was talk of sacking him because the Zimbabweans wouldn’t put up with it-it was still very touchy. I did I Dream Of Africa a few years ago with Kim Basinger, wonderful. So I love the place, I’ve got a real affinity to it and I love going back. It was the first time I’d been to Cape Town and it’s beautiful, an unbelievable place. South Africa has its problems but if they can sort it out it will do the rest of Africa a lot of good.
F: Did you keep tabs on the film as it was in progress or did you see it for the first time as a finished piece?
D: Well, Baillie is a close friend so of course I kept tabs on it as he was going along - we were on the phone to each other constantly. But I left him alone with it. The first time I saw it I was bowled over. And filming in South Africa was just essential, it looks like another land, to state the obvious, but what it hopefully looks like is that endless summer that we all remember from when we were growing up, the one that lasted forever – I’m not sure about that much sex, though (laughs). I don’t think that ever happened. Maybe in my mind.
F: Is it important for you to take on projects like this alongside doing Bond?
D: It’s absolutely not a conscious decision to react to something. I did it because I believed in it and because I believe in Baillie. He needs to make movies and I felt that was important. But Bond does help. I would be lying if I said it didn’t. And doing films like this makes me remember why I do what I do. And also being a producer on this is like basically what I have to do is speak to people and say ‘I believe in this, spend some money.’ And it’s a step because that was somebody else’s job - that was my bosses’ job, they did all of that and I turned up and did the acting. But now it’s me who has to say ‘I really believe in this, please spend some money.’ And actually following it through and getting the movie made was very rewarding.
F: Apparently there were some parts of Joe’s wardrobe that were your own clothes. Is there anything of you in the character?
D: Well I grew up by the sea, as Joe does. And Baillie did too. He was the kid at the back of the waltzers (fairground ride) that made you sick. He was the guy inside the ghost train who squirts water at you and touches the back of your head to make you jump, that was Baillie’s job for a while, so that’s all his. I grew up in the North West (of England) and New Brighton was the place that I used to go to which is not unlike that kind of place in the film, the funfairs and arcades, it might have been a bit smellier I think!
Q: The film is quite scathing about Hollywood. Where did that come from?
A: Well it is scathing but it could be any business really. It really could. But the key in was to be a movie star was a good connection to make. And you could have some fun with it. I mean, Mark’s character (Mark Strong, who plays Joe’s agent, Manny Miesel) is great, we can relate to that. But really it’s about laying down the truth of the story and how his mother would describe it would be to say that he’s got himself in with a bad crowd. But there’s plenty of lovely people in this business, it’s just who you choose and you’ve got to choose. And if you just let your life run away with itself you end up surrounded by a bunch of **** and that’s a choice and Joe has made that choice. He has made that choice to be where he is and all of his good friends have gone. In fact, the one person, Eve, who is there is the one person keeping him alive. And hopefully by the end of the movie he begins to realise that, because that’s the woman he should be running off into the sunset with.
F: In the film your character’s mother keeps his bedroom exactly the way he left it as a kind of shrine, can you relate to that?
D: My mother stopped doing that a long time ago, thank God. For a while she did, but she’s moved house a couple of times since then and slowly my possessions have gone down to one box which is the same with everybody.
F: When you go back there now is it different because you’re perceived as a movie star?
D: I kind of keep myself to myself. I don’t go out. I’m lucky with the place I come from, maybe it’s just the North West but people do tend to keep themselves to themselves. I’m lucky I can go to the shop without any problems, people say hello but that’s it.
F: What can you tell us about the new Bond film?
D: Nothing really (laughs). The story continues where we left off. In Casino Royale we saw that there is an organisation that is trying to destabilise the world for it’s own gains and that is still there and I’m going after that.
F: Is it true that it starts two minutes after Casino Royale?
D: Well, it might be five minutes or maybe ten! But yes, pretty much after the last one. We’re shooting in Pinewood and then we’ll be doing Europe and South America.
F: Does it feel good to be back in the role?
D: I feel really good. Up until Christmas it was a bit kick, bollock and scramble because things were coming together, but now the tipping point has come, we’re all in and we just have to get on with it. Any problems that we had or thought we had have gone now and we’ll have a ton more to deal in three months time. We have Matheiu Amalric in the film and I don’t know if you’ve seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly but he’s fantastic and we’re just blessed to have him. He’s great. Olga (Kurylenko who accompanies Bond on his mission to avenge Vespa’s death) is now on board which is great, that’s all sorted and we can get over that stuff and nonsense. You forget that the casting process can be so crazy, everybody gets mobbed.
F: Is it very character driven?
D: Yes, but don’t worry we’ve got plenty of explosives (laughs). We have Dan Bradly shooting second unit and he had just finished shooting Indie 4 (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and he did the Bourne movies, so we’re in good shape.
Flashbacks of a Fool was released on April 28th and Quantum Solace will hit cinemas in November.
