An Interview with Mathieu Amalric

Hardyboy

IGN has just posted an interview with Mathieu Amalric, who's playing the evil Dominic Greene in QoS. He's kind of cagy in the interview, but I found the most interesting quotes to be these:

When asked to describe his character, Amalric says, "At the moment I'm doing a lot of rehearsing for the stunts, which means there might be a fight. Sometimes the villain sends his bodyguard, but this time, there is a fight. It's awkward because, what I like when I discover James Bond films is not to know anything, so it would be disgraceful for the public if I tell you who this guy is because it's part of the suspense."

As to the kind of villain Greene is: "Well there are a lot of villains around today. We are all villains, no? When you see Casino Royale there's the fantasy of Bond, but it's also realistic – it could happen. It's not a villain on a secret island who wants to destroy the world - it's more complicated than that. For example, what's happening in economics today - where are the villains? We don't even know. They are more like a gas - you don't know where it is. Before you had something to help you look like a villain - a jaw full of metal, an eye that bleeds - something, but I don't."

Interesting that Amalric is pretty well shooting down the notion of being a Blofeld-like villain and that he seems to consider Le Chiffre's bleeding eye as a bit over-the-top. But a villain as gas? I hope he's not full of hot air!

Anyway, more can be found at the hyperlink I provided at the start of this thread. Enjoy!

jamesbondagent007

Ah, you beat me to it. IGN has been on a roll lately with their QOS coverage. I'm impressed. Another nice article.

Nightshooter

Hardyboy wrote:

I hope he's not full of hot air!

Worst. Pun. Ever. )

castleman

Amalric said that for the bond villian he's "looking at the smile of Tony Blair and the crazy eyes of Nicholas Sarkozy" ... definitely the perfect combo for a good bond villian!

Lexi

This is my favourite quote of this interview and why I still stand firmly behind the casting of Craig, he is such a master of showing emotion on his face. I really like the direction of where these bond movies are going, behind the emotion rather than just action.

"He's shooting what happens on the faces"

November can't come around quick enough!

Napoleon Plural

I think he'll be another Klaus Maria Brandeur (Largo in NSNA) which is not bad thing. That said, his interesting take on villainy are not so different from Barbara Carrera's quotes in that same film, and she was very OTT as it turned out.

Sometimes their press talk is better than the script.

taity

A lot of the over the top nature of NSNA I believe can be planted squarely at the director/producers feet. Yeah maybe Fatamia was over the top - the director yelled action.

Somehow Id say that Greene will be much more realistic given the direction CR went in.

Dan Same

Napoleon Plural wrote:

That said, his interesting take on villainy are not so different from Barbara Carrera's quotes in that same film, and she was very OTT as it turned out.

She was indeed but IMO she was also fantastic, so if Amalric is half as good as her, I will be delighted.

taity wrote:

Somehow Id say that Greene will be much more realistic given the direction CR went in.

CR wasn't completely realistic given that Le Chiffre had his own unique characteristics. But really, I'm not interested in a Bond villain being realistic. I'm interested in a Bond villain being convincing; so while Le Chiffre is not among my least favourite villains, I found him less convincing (and less great) than Stromberg in TSWLM.

Amalric can be as realistic as he wants, but please be convincing, and above all be memorable.