AJB Interview with Yaphet Kotto (Page 2 of 2)

Live and Let Die was Roger Moore’s first appearance as Bond, how do you feel about Roger’s performance over the seven films he did and the legacy he leaves behind?

Roger did his thing, and he was very good at it.

Absolutely.  Moore was never my favourite Bond actor but everyone has their own style.  LALD and FYEO were my favourite Moore Bond films.

How confident did you feel that the public would accept a new James Bond after Connery's long time in the role?

There’s only one James Bond and that’s Sean Connery. I saw all of them. Even now, at any age he’s still James Bond.

 

Do you still watch Bond films? If so, what do you think of the direction which the films have taken?

I watched all of Roger’s, and no more.
I’d make changes to the franchise, they take too long between movies. And it’s insane to talk about a black James Bond or a female James Bond- he’s a white man.

I think we all agree on this.  Almost 5 years until NTTD.  Such high anticipation, the film could be on a hiding to nothing.

I've always been intrigued by your fighting style with the knife against Bond, it's very elegant, is it based on any particular style or choreographed purely to look good on screen?

I came up with that myself. Thank you for saying it was elegant! My aunt had a dance school in New York, where James Dean and Marlon Brando attended.

Makes me think Kotto is a very humble person.

What was your reaction, when watching Kananga's death scene for the first time at the premiere of LALD?

It was laughable. I tried to persuade the producers to consider doing it again.

I think most people would agree with this.