Caterina Murino Interview

Lady Rose · July 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5145666.stm

'Bond star Craig 'is great actor'

Caterina Murino will play the character of Solange in the movie
The actress who will play James Bond's lover in Casino Royale has predicted Daniel Craig will win over anybody who doubts he can make a good 007.
Caterina Murino said Craig was "a great actor" and would provide fans with "something else we never saw before".

She also promised fans: "You never saw a James Bond like this."

The Italian revealed the forthcoming film, due for release in the UK on 17 November, would be more violent than any of its predecessors.

"Casino Royale is the first book Ian Fleming wrote and it means we see how James Bond became James Bond," said Murino.

"Daniel is giving to this James Bond something else we never saw before.

"When he's going to kill someone, he looks like a real killer. When he kisses me, when he makes love, he's so sexy."

Craig, 38, is the sixth actor to play Bond after Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

Craig 'upset'

He has promised to portray a more human and fallible version of the secret agent, but some fans have criticised the choice of Craig to replace Brosnan.

Murino admitted Craig had been upset by criticism of his selection, but insisted that filming went well and Bond fans would be happy with the result.

"This James Bond doesn't look like a little cartoon like before, like the last one or so charming and playful like the first James Bond," she added. "This is new."

Casino Royale, directed by Martin Campbell, will also feature Sir Richard Branson and his son Sam.

The Virgin Atlantic airline owner will play himself in a scene set in Miami Airport.

The entrepreneur has previously had cameos in the TV series Friends and the films Around the World in 80 Days and Superman Returns.

He said he was "just a little excited to be playing a cameo in the film".

MBE_ · July 2006

Well, that's enlightening.

Not only do we get insights on what Fleming wrote in his book, what it really shows us, things I didn't see when reading it, Catarina gives us a rundown on previous Bonds. But only two because evidently referencing five nameless actors might be a bit too much strain.

So Craig doesn't look like a little cartoon like before and like the last one and isn't so playful and charming like the first one. We're did she go to PR school? The Martin Campbell institute for foot in mouth calesthenics?

)

MBE

Pierce_Brosnan · July 2006

Well that is very insightful and reassuring.

Royale King · July 2006

totally agree with you brosnan

Loeffelholz · July 2006

Thanks, Rose.

Her comments will, of course, draw sneers from some quarters (shocking...positively shocking :v ), but IMO it's encouraging to hear that Ms. Murino is excited about the project, and its beleaguered lead actor---even if her comments were 'encouraged' by a PR rep hovering nearby.

jetsetwilly · July 2006

Thank you for the find, Lady Rose.

Bond Girl says the Bond she acts opposite is absolutely the best Bond ever? No change there from any Bond Girl ever, from Ursula to Halle. Especially when Caterina is featured in circumstances which can be called, at best, a "media event". I'm choosing to emphasise an actress who is positive about her project and happy to provide good PR. Good on Ms Murino.

TonyDP · July 2006

All that interview does for me is reinforce my belief that Bond in this film will be a lot like he was in LTK, if not even darker. Is that good or bad? That's not for me to say; the general public's acceptance or rejection of such a character will ultimately be the opinion that matters the most.

Barry Nelson · July 2006

Thanks LR for digging this up and posting it. I like Caterina, she is about the only casting I do like. But, I have to agree with MBE on her comments, wouldn't it have been possible to praise Craig without diminishing prior Bonds.

Loeffelholz · July 2006

Well of course it's only her opinion, and she's certainly entitled to it; hardly surprising that she'd like the Bond with whom she appears the most...if she'd been Brozzer's girl, I've no doubt he'd have been the best in her eyes.

TonyDP · July 2006

Barry Nelson wrote:

Thanks LR for digging this up nad posting it. I like Caterina, she is about the only casting I do like. But, I have to agree with MBE on her comments, wouldn't it have been possible to praise Craig without diminishing prior Bonds.

In all fairness Barry, I think a lot of this rhetoric is just EON and its minions over-compensating for the negative stories that have dogged Craig. A lot of people still have a lot of doubts about him and in their efforts to sell him to the general public and put a favorable spin on the movie EON and company are just going a little overboard with their praise.

In the end, it will mean little. Longtime fans of the movies will simply get PO'd because their favorite Bond is being dissed and the casual moviegoers will either ignore or quickly forget all this fluff and form their own opinions when they actually see him in action.

Loeffelholz · July 2006

Perhaps it's time for fans of previous Bonds to just get a helmet {:) and realize that the newest and the latest is always going to be 'the best'...until the next guy shows up. B-)

Everybody's favourite Bond takes his lumps, here and elsewhere, for one performance or the other---or his entire tenure in the role. C'est la vie.

Loeffelholz · July 2006

TonyDP wrote:

In the end, it will mean little. Longtime fans of the movies will simply get PO'd because their favorite Bond is being dissed and the casual moviegoers will either ignore or quickly forget all this fluff and form their own opinions when they actually see him in action.

So true. Detractors of Craig should take comfort in knowing that, when his time has come and gone, the next guy will be 'the best' and poor Danny will be among the Bond alumni who receive this perceived 'dis' from those involved in future productions. {[]

highhopes · July 2006

I think we're defending the other Bond actors where no defense is necessary. I didn't hear Munro slamming anyone, just making the point that Craig will be different.

emtiem · July 2006

So is this her bashing Bonds?

"This James Bond doesn't look like a little cartoon like before, like the last one or so charming and playful like the first James Bond," she added. "This is new."

I don't really see the bashing- Bond has been cartoon-like and charming and playful. She's not saying those are bad things, just that we're getting something different now. I know I loved the cartoon-y Bond films. And she doesn't even call him 'the best' or draw any comparisons of quality. I'm a bit baffled as to how you think calling someone charming is insulting!

It's a shame all this has said before on Bond films where it appears not to have been applicable because this time it seems we actually are getting a Bond that's 'different' and we 'haven't seen before'!

At least she's not saying that her character is a new kind of Bond girl or whatever- her previous comments about Bond and Solange just getting together for the pure lust of it rather than any deeper relationship were quite refreshing!

Klaus Hergescheimer · July 2006

Just a question:

How many Bond fans out there do you think are serious enough to drudge up these articles and post on message boards like this?

I bet by the time CR rolls around, more than 75% of Bond fans will never have read Caterina's comments.

Loeffelholz · July 2006

All this hypersensitivity about past Bonds being 'insulted' or 'belittled' is just nonsense, IMHO.

My advice, sincerely: Get a helmet {:)

Otherwise, it might give the impression that one is desperately looking for things by which to be insulted...or mining for additional reasons to oppose the latest film... :v "Caterina Murino is slagging the older Bonds. Now I'm REALLY not going to see the new movie!"

I know, I know...perish the thought, right?

)

blueman · July 2006

I guess I'm on an island about what production personnel say about whatever, as long as they're not eating babies in their off-time I don't really care. She could say Connery was a fish and Brosnan an emu, whatever. How does she do in the role, that's what matters IMO. So Tamahori likes to wear a dress, big whoops. Connery alledgedly socked his wife (didn't he even admit that recently?), that's the worst thing I remember about anybody involved in any Bond film...

Her comments sound like general public PR to me, and in line with all the other hotly debated CR comments...EON is trying to sell a new Bond and a new Bond actor, I'd be shocked if these kinda comments weren't in the press the way they've been. They may not go over with some Bond fans, but for the general public it's what's needed, IMHO.

blueman · July 2006

Wilson: "We wanted to go in a very similar direction, just a wee bit different but not so much anyone would notice. Craig is okay."

Broccoli: "Craig is okay."

Campbell: "Craig is okay."

Murino: "Craig is okay."

etc.

Are people really expecting a studio to have these kinds of comments come out? For a movie event like CR? Everyone involved is gonna say it's the best, Craig is the best, the women are the best, the action is the best...it's the nature of what they do: making and selling a movie.

Did the ad line for TSWLM insult anybody: "It's the biggest. It's the best. It's Bond. And B-E-Y-O-N-D." Maybe they should have an ad campaign just for us finicky Bond fans: "Craig is the 3rd best Bond, behind Moore and Connery..." lol.

Loeffelholz · July 2006

"Daniel Craig IS (our uncertain replacement) James Bond in Casino Royale."

) {[]

emtiem · July 2006

High Guard wrote:

Lady Rose wrote:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5145666.stm

'Bond star Craig 'is great actor'

"This James Bond doesn't look like a little cartoon like before, like the last one or so charming and playful like the first James Bond," she added. "This is new."

Either Caterina needs some lessons in english or she is indeed insulting two of the best bond's in the franchise.

Well, here's a little lesson in english for you- plurals don't need apostrophes!

Seriously, though- Bond was a cartoon in the last few films, wasn't he? Nothing wrong with that, I enjoy Bond being a bit larger than life; she's just emphasising the new direction. And Connery was charming and playful- Craig's not leaning on that aspect of Bond's character so much: at no point does she say he's better than they were. 'This is new'; not: 'This is better'.
It does feel like people on this board hunt for anything they can find to take offence to sometimes. Just my opinion.

Loeffelholz · July 2006

Here's your helmet {:) {[]

emtiem · July 2006

High Guard wrote:

emtiem wrote:

Well, here's a little lesson in english for you- plurals don't need apostrophes!

Well 1000 appologies. I am so impressed by your excellent command of the langauge. I bet you must have a doctorate already.

Just a little joke based on your criticism of Caterina's English- please don't take it to heart!

emtiem · July 2006

High Guard wrote:

There is a feeling among some of us that they also take every little opportunity to try to berate previous bonds or other movies.

But where's the belitting here? Where does she say Craig's approach is superior to those gone before? All she actually says is that he's different and less cartoonish than the last film/characterisation; which appears to be on th emoney, doesn't it? And how is calling Sean 'charming' belitting him?

High Guard wrote:

Most mainstream fans are like 'Well DC is now bond, so i guess we have to live with it'...'If i had my way i would have surely choosen someone else but now i guess we have to just suck it up and hope for the best' etc.

'Most mainstream fans'? I'd have to take issue there. Looking around the forums I see what I take as a high percentage of Dan-love. There's about, what, ten, fifteen or so vocal people on this forum who dislike him..?

Barry Nelson · July 2006

emtiem wrote:

High Guard wrote:

There is a feeling among some of us that they also take every little opportunity to try to berate previous bonds or other movies.

But where's the belitting here? Where does she say Craig's approach is superior to those gone before? All she actually says is that he's different and less cartoonish than the last film/characterisation; which appears to be on th emoney, doesn't it? And how is calling Sean 'charming' belitting him?

High Guard wrote:

Most mainstream fans are like 'Well DC is now bond, so i guess we have to live with it'...'If i had my way i would have surely choosen someone else but now i guess we have to just suck it up and hope for the best' etc.

'Most mainstream fans'? I'd have to take issue there. Looking around the forums I see what I take as a high percentage of Dan-love. There's about, what, ten, fifteen or so vocal people on this forum who dislike him..?

Em, you have been around long enough to know that many of the Craig haters have been run off, or have just quit posting to the CR forum. Going back to when Craig was selected the arguments concerning Craig almost brought down the servers and the majority of the posts were negative.

emtiem · July 2006

Barry Nelson wrote:

Em, you have been around long enough to know that many of the Craig haters have been run off, or have just quit posting to the CR forum. Going back to when Craig was selected the arguments concerning Craig almost brought down the servers and the majority of the posts were negative.

I'm not convinced the servers of this place have ever been troubled too much (!) but equally there's a good amount who have simply changed their mind. Obviously Craig's casting was a bit of a shock for some, but now that shock's died down. I'm really not feeling the 'most fans' statement, there. This forum really doesn't have a large enough membership to be indicative of fan feeling; and even if it were, the positives are pretty heavy. Look at the reaction on the Eton photos thread.

Napoleon Plural · July 2006

Well there's no point banging on about it... that's why. Craig is not such a shock now, but he does seem to have aged a lot even since filming started, and could be 50 in those Eton pics. He looks like a young Anthony Hopkins (but not that young), hence my Lector comment.

His casting is interesting, though. In contast to Brandon Routh as Superman, which suffers a bit because he's much like Christopher Reeve, so the surprise factor isn't really there. It's more of the same, and you can't say that about Craig.

blueman · July 2006

HG makes an interesting point: I didn't join this forum and hardly even lurked until AFTER Brosnan was ousted. He was a pretty thin Bond for me, and I didn't see the reason to come in here and rain on anybody else's parade (of course that tide's turned a bit sense those "happy" days, eh?

). Brosnan did keep the franchise going, made a lot of new Bond fans, things every new Bond has done and likely as not will do. Craig has turned quite a few heads--in both directions. Some fans will go off to their version of the monestary (lovely weather, nice birdies as I recall...), so be it. What's interesting to me is how the Craig casting has impacted fans' expectations of who Bond is, and that some--perhaps quite a few?--Bond fans from the Brosnan years are even at this early date finding things to like (if that isn't too strong a word) about Craig and the reboot. As a longtime Bond fan, this shake-up is exactly what I've wanted for over two decades now, don't know if Campbell and company will pull it off but so far, kudos for efforts. Like HG, I have very specific ideas about Bond, so far what I'm hearing from CR meets those ideas more than anything EON has put out there for a long long time. I'm a happy camper!

The film itself may let me down, but at some point, for the series to survive, this needed to happen--as it will again at some distant point in the future. It's not your cup of Bond tea HG (and others), okay. So far it's looking to be mine, and I expect for the general movie-going public, starved as they are for something familiar yet enticingly different (just endlessly, they never stop!!), CR/Craig/Bond after a 4 year gap should hit the spot.

There's a lot to like about this new Bond, just as there was a lot to like (for others

) about Brosnan as Bond. It cycles, that's all. I long ago gave up any proprietary leanings towards the film franchise, they obviously were set on pleasing some other Bond fans' expectations, not mine. How nice to have one that seemingly reverses that. Correction: I would wish that ALL Bond fans take to this new version, but if not there's always something of interest in that non-Bond movie wasteland...;) And, nobody stays Bond forever, a new guy will come along in 3-4 films. It's not that long of a wait, trust me. {[]

Sir Miles · July 2006

Barry Nelson wrote:

Em, you have been around long enough to know that many of the Craig haters have been run off, or have just quit posting to the CR forum. Going back to when Craig was selected the arguments concerning Craig almost brought down the servers and the majority of the posts were negative.

Who's been "run off" the forum ?:)

Big difference between "run off" and "quit posting"

As I seem to remember the people whom backed Craig (or wanted to give him a chance) were derided in the beginning - only for the majority of positive posts to come since clips/photos have been shown.

AJB encourages healthy debate/ differing opinions, and is quite happy for people to have different viewpoints as long as they express them without being rude or trying to belittle other posters.

Loeffelholz · July 2006

It was very tough to be a 'Give Craig a Chancer' in the hours, days and weeks immediately following the announcement---which is why I have to laugh at some recent comments about Ms Murino's praise of Craig being disrespectful to Brozzer, Connery, et al. 'Disrespectful' is the least of what was foist upon poor Danny after 14 October 2005

And I don't think anyone's been run off---but I'm sure HG is correct (up to a point) in asserting that many Craig Haters have simply lost interest...which is a shame, IMHO. During Bond's darkest ages (anyone familiar with me knows the era to which I refer

), I never stopped watching the films---and it's a good thing, too, for I would have missed out on a lot of fun. It's regrettable that a reaction to an unconventional casting choice might actually keep Bond fans from seeing a Bond movie. I honestly don't understand this phenomenon.

But I'm sure AKB46 and CnB appreciate the support... :v

TonyDP · July 2006

Loeffelholz wrote:

But I'm sure AKB46 and CnB appreciate the support... :v

I think that's painting things a little too black and white. There are a lot of us who don't care for the kind of movie CR is apparently shaping up to be; but you don't see us posting pics of Craig morphing into lower primates or verbally insulting him. Just because we don't like what we see is no reason to lump us in with that bunch.

Sir Miles wrote:

AJB encourages healthy debate/ differing opinions, and is quite happy for people to have different viewpoints as long as they express them without being rude or trying to belittle other posters.

While nobody has been "run off" the site, there have been a few posts (including a couple by some of the mods) suggesting that if people really don't like CR then they shouldn't torture themselves by continually posting their displeasure. I'm not flaming anybody with this and the suggestions were never made in a harsh or derogatory manner. But still, just posting something like that would discourage people from venting their misgivings.

As for me, the theory that a lot of people simply don't care anymore is right on the money. Nothing about this movie interests me in the slightest and EON's clumsy attempts at PR have only disenfranchised me further. It may not have been their intent to belittle previous efforts as they try to prop up Craig and CR but it sure comes across that way to me a lot of the time.

Predator · July 2006

TonyDP wrote:

While nobody has been "run off" the site, there have been a few posts (including a couple by some of the mods) suggesting that if people really don't like CR then they shouldn't torture themselves by continually posting their displeasure.

So if I understand you, there is no issue with anyone being "run off"?

Caterina Murino Interview

Comments