Daniel Craig promises the best Bond movie ever

CRAIG. Portraying the British superspy is a huge responsibility. RUBEN V. NEPALES

LOS ANGELES – “I was up shooting till 9 o’clock this morning, so I’m on about two and a half hours sleep only,” a smiling Daniel Craig said to us on a monitor via satellite. “I don’t know where I am at the moment,” he joked.

Daniel was in London, unable to come to LA because he was in the midst of shooting the new 007 film, “Skyfall.” “We’re making the best Bond movie we can possibly make,” he promised. “Skyfall,” which reportedly revolves around how Bond’s loyalty to M (played by Judi Dench) is tested as her past comes back to haunt her, is being directed by Sam Mendes (“American Beauty”). Joining the terrific cast are Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem, Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney, Naomie Harris and Ola Rapace.

“There’s a huge amount of responsibility, especially because it [the James Bond series] will be 50 years old,” announced Daniel, who stars as Mikael Blomkvist in the much-awaited “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.”

“But, I think we pulled together the best people available with Sam, [cinematographer] Roger Deakins, and a cast that I’d be proud and happy to work with in any movie. We have a great script, too. We’ve been shooting for about six weeks now. It’s exhausting, though I’m enjoying every moment of it!”

Daniel explained that after the holiday break, the film will resume its six-month shooting schedule. “All I can say is that we’re making a very beautiful and exciting movie,” he said. “It’s fast-paced. We’ve brought in new and old characters. I can’t say more than that without giving too many details away.”

Coincidence

The actor was told about a coincidence – Ola Rapace, who’s in the Bond film – is the ex-husband of Noomi Rapace, who played Lisbeth Salander in the original “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” released in 2009. “I didn’t know that,” Daniel said. “I work with him a lot. Ola and I have two or three big scenes together. He’s in the movie from beginning to end. I’m incredibly happy to have him in the film. He’s a great actor!”

Asked if he has thought about being too identified with the famous British Secret Service agent and if people address him as James Bond, he answered, “They mainly address me as Daniel, which is good. But, if I was really typecast, and James Bond is the only role I play for the rest of my life, it wouldn’t be a bad thing. There are worse problems than that.

“But, I’ve been fortunate to have been given a chance to do other things. I went off and did a cowboy movie [‘Cowboys & Aliens’] and had the chance to make this movie and a motion-capture film [‘The Adventures of Tintin’] over the past two years. So, it has been rich and varied. I’m very grateful for that.”

He said it was “a real privilege” to work with David Fincher, who directed “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” the 2011 version with Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. “I’ve been a huge Fincher fan for years,” Daniel admitted. “It has been an ambition of mine to work with him and to be given a chance to work on a movie of this scale, and with material this good. It was a joy, and David is a wonderful director to work with. We had a lot of fun making the movie.”

“David has an eye for detail,” he said of the filmmaker behind “The Social Network” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and noted for doing many takes. “To be in the hands of someone like that, it just makes you relax. He knows what he wants and asks for it in a very clear way. It’s very easy to respond to him. I’m there to work, so if it takes 60 takes, it will take 60 takes. I never counted.”

As for his co-star, who plays a Goth hacker in the thriller, Daniel commented, “Rooney is a wonderful, very mature actress. She’s a good person who was under a lot of pressure, not the least of which was the fact that there were many actresses who wanted to play the role. She stepped up to the plate and did an amazing job! Rooney is more than capable of dealing with things on her own. She has the skill set, so there’s nothing I can say to her, advice-wise. She’s going to be just fine.”

Indeed. It was hard to take our eyes off Rooney when we saw the film.

Daniel added that he, Rooney and the main cast rehearsed intensively. “And, I worked with Steve Zaillian, the scriptwriter, to get the characters as strong as possible,” Daniel said of the screenwriter who adapted Stieg Larsson’s book, part of a bestselling trilogy. “Then, we spent a year shooting it, so we all got to know each other quite well.”

Extraordinary story

He offered why the late Stieg’s trilogy has sold more than 20 million copies all over the world. “What made the books so popular is this extraordinary story about a middle-aged journalist who’s having a relationship with this twentysomething damaged human being,” Daniel remarked. “Both are extraordinary characters who team up and I think fall in love a little. That’s the real deal about why these stories have been so successful. Hopefully, we’ve captured that.”

Daniel stars as the villainous Ivanovich Sakharine/Red Rackham in “Tintin,” an altogether different film. “I had a lot of fun shooting that movie,” he said, his eyes lighting up. “It was quite a freeing experience apart from the fact that I needed to wear a leotard with dots all over. I worked with such a wonderful and funny cast. Steven (Spielberg, director) and Peter (Jackson, producer) who are big Tintin fans wanted to make it as joyous an experience as possible. The funny thing is, we shot that movie two years ago. So, it seems like a long time ago, but I was incredibly impressed with the results.”

Aside from filming the Bond movie, what else is in Daniel’s immediate future? “I have no overriding ambition to do anything – just what’s good,” he replied. “I’d like to go back to theater at some point in the next couple of years. That’s my ambition, work-wise.”

He added, “And, we’ll see how this movie (‘Dragon Tattoo’) does. Maybe we’ll get a chance to make another one in the trilogy. My character does get interesting. But, the next book is very much about Salander. I haven’t read the script yet, so I don’t know how much he’s going to appear in it. But, I’d like to take that character again, given the opportunity.”

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