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A Blonde Bond!

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A post 9-11 prequel. A media backlash. Casino Royale seemed like it was set-up for a fall before the cards were even dealt. But for director Martin Campbell, it was a gamble he was right to take.

Video Ezy: What made you want to direct Casino Royale?
Martin Campbell: Money. They paid me tons of money! No, the thing was I did Goldleneye and after I had finished it I swore I would never do another Bond again. But then they came up with the book of Casino Royale which they hadn't had the rights for previously until now. Anyway, they (the rights) became available and it was the first book that Fleming wrote. The idea was to go back to basics on Bond and that appealed to me.

VE: There were so many great actors considered for the role of James Bond. What was it about Daniel Craig that made him stand out from the rest?
MC: Well first of all, he's a superb actor, and second of all he fits Fleming's idea of Bond. Aside from Connery, I think Daniel (fits Fleming's Bond) much more so than the others. Daniel has a dangerous quality about him and Connery had it as well, but I don't think any of the others had it. Also with Daniel, we had to have an actor from the word 'go' to play Bond with a real and human element to the character which we haven't seen before. That requires a terrific actor, quite honestly. To have the emotional spine to the story where the character falls in love with Vesper Lynd which is the heart of the movie, you had to have someone who was capable of making that convincing. Daniel really fits Fleming's Bond absolutely perfectly.

VE: You've had experience with the Bond films before when you directed Golldeneye. Was there anything you learnt from Goldeneye that you brought to Casino Royale.
MC: They're two very different films, very much I think in the genre of allthe previous Bonds and I think Pierce fitted that perfectly. Casino Royale is a big change to the others with a tone of itself. I think there's a general reality of Casino Royale that is not in the previous movies and that was the idea of it. Even though there's plenty of action, it's based more on reality than the previous Bonds have been.

VE: What do you think sets Casino Royale apart from other Bond films?
MC: Simply because I think it's the first book and it's his first mission. I think it's a story where because of his relationship, and because of the outcome of his relationship with Vesper Lynd, he becomes a changed man, he becomes amisogynist SOB that we actually know and love. And his relationship with her is what forges that. But he doesn't actually become the Bond that we know and love until the end of the movie.

VE: If you were given the opportunity to remae any Bond film, which one would you choose?
MC: That's a very difficult question! Of course you see Bond films whenever you were born, it's been going on for goodness knows - forty years, so two generations or maybe more, and the thing is that you only remember the ones you see growing up through rose-coloured spectacles. In my case it was Connery. I f I had to choose one, it would probably be On Her Majesty's Secret Service. That's the one I'd like to remake. I just think I could do a better jb with the material, the storyline. My favourite Bond films are From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. Because I like them so much I wouldn't want to remake them. But On Her Majesty's Secret Service where he falls in love again and gets marries - that's one I'd like to remake again, just simply because I think I could do a better job.

VE: And would you choose Daniel Craig for the role?
MC: Absolutely, definately.