Daniel Craig on ‘Quantum of Solace’: ‘We were stuffed’
The actor on his hopes for 'Skyfall' and 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'
Daniel Craig has spoken exclusively to Time Out about his upcoming role in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and his hopes for next year’s ‘Skyfall’, his third stab at playing James Bond, this time under the direction of British director Sam Mendes. The 43-year-old British actor has also expressed his frustration that the last Bond movie, ‘Quantum of Solace’, was not the rousing success it should have been.
Talking of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, which opens in cinemas this Christmas, Craig admits he’s confused by those critics who have interpreted Stieg Larsson’s novel as being sexist. The book – and the new film – tell of Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a young Swedish woman and top-grade computer hacker who is repeatedly abused by men. She is joined by a disgraced journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Craig), in the hunt for a serial killer of women.
‘I get a lot of questions from people saying, “Do you think the film is sexist?” But I don’t see it,’ Craig says. ‘With anything like this that becomes a phenomenon, people analyse it up its own arse: “Ah, I see it now! It’s sexist!” People point out to me that the original book was called “Men Who Hate Women”, and ask, “Do you see anything in the title?” It’s like, no: it’s about men who hate women isn’t it? Just because he’s writing about misogyny doesn’t mean he’s a misogynist, does it? I don’t see it.’
Craig is full of praise for his co-star, Mara (‘The Social Network’), who won the role of Salander after fierce competition from well-known actresses and other lesser known names. ‘There was a whole shenanigans going on while she was being cast, and David Fincher was adamant,’ Craig explains. ‘When she puts the hoodie on and the leather jacket, she looks like a 14-year-old boy, she looks sexless. Which is perfect.’
Talking of the film’s director, Craig identifies ‘The Social Network’ as a turning point in Fincher’s career – a sign of a new maturing of the already-celebrated director of ‘Fight Club’ and ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’. ‘You see someone who is getting as good as they can be,’ suggests Craig. ‘That is exciting. It’s unusual. A lot of directors have a big splash and then slide rapidly. It’s like he’s changed his attitude to filmmaking, and that’s a great thing as an artist to do… Great artist? Fucking hell! He should be paying me money for this!’
Turning his mind to Bond, Craig admits that ‘Quantum of Solace’ (2008) was a frustrating experience, not least because the Hollywood writers’ strike meant they ended up filming with an incomplete script. ‘We were fucked,’ he says. ‘We had the bare bones of a script and then there was the strike and there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not. We were stuffed.’
In contrast, Craig says he could not be happier with the script of ‘Skyfall’, which he is filming now with Mendes until the end of next May. ‘I’m genuinely really excited because we’ve got a script. I think this one is better than “Casino Royale”. I really do. It’s a totally original story. There’s a long thought process that’s gone into it. I read it and it just works as a story.’
Craig believes that the fact that both he and Mendes are British, roughly the same age and share the same memories of growing up with Bond, has greatly helped the planning and execution of ‘Skyfall’.
‘Early on, we sat down and we just rabbited for hours about “Live and Let Die” or “From Russia With Love”, and talked about little scenes that we knew from them. That’s how we started talking about it. That’s what we have tried to instil in the script.’
A
full interview with Daniel Craig, in which he talks about ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, ‘Skyfall’ and more, will appear in the next issue of Time Out London, dated December 8-15 2011 and on shelves from Tuesday December 6 2011
http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/1 ... -interview
They are the f*cking idiots who are the butt of all jokes and even those in HW and the public have no respect for them. Can't wait for Ricky to skewer them further.
Seems, for once, headlines about him are gaining some positive respond.
