Winter 2007
In November last year, Heineken employees and key trade partners in the Netherlands were
treated to a special premiere of the latest James Bond film, Casino Royale at the Tuschinski
Theatre in Amsterdam. Heineken is a major sponsor of the movie, which has broken all box
office records for the release of a new Bond film.
The glittering occasion was graced by the presence of the film's leading
lady, Eva Green, who plays the role of Vesper Lynd in the movie. We asked
her to reflect on the phenomenon of James Bond - and that of Bond women.
WoH: Your breakthrough in film occurred when you caught the eye of
Italian film director Bernado Bertolucci. How did that happen?
EVA: I had met the casting director a few months before when she was
casting another movie. She called me back for "The Dreamers" and at that
time I was doing a play in the south of France so I went for the audition but
I really didn't think I would get it. Then I got called back for a screen test.
Again I went and didn't think I would get it. Then Bernardo saw the screen
test and asked me to come and meet him. I always admired him so I was
very nervous but I went and he offered me the part!
WoH: You have played roles in four movies now: Isabelle in The Dreamers,
Clarisse in Arsene Lupin, Sybilla in Kingdom of Heaven, and Vesper Lynd in
Casino Royale. These are all very different films. Which has been your
favourite to act in, and why?
EVA: They are all such different roles that I don't really have a favourite.
Sybilla is a queen trapped in a time when women had no power but yet she
was a great heroine; Vesper is very much a modern woman but yet is also
like a character you might find in a 1940's film; Isabelle was a great part to
play because it was my first film and will always be special to me.
WoH: The new James Bond with Daniel Craig is a modern, tough and hard
hitting James Bond who fits with the times. Do you like the new, tougher
manifestation?
EVA: Absolutely. It brings Bond up to date and he is really a hero for the
21st century. The Bond that bleeds...
WoH: Did you enjoy working with Daniel Craig? What kind of actor is he to
work with?
EVA: He was great to work with. I met him at the screen test. I was so
nervous but he was really kind and made me feel calm. We had to do the
train scene which is the most difficult scene but he was brilliant to work
with because he is such a great actor. I had seen a few of his films before I
did the film and really admire his work.
WoH: Daniel Craig is now the sixth actor
to play James Bond. Did you know the
Bond films, growing up? Did they have
any effect on your life? Did you ever think
you might one day be playing a Bond girl
in one of them yourself?
EVA: I grew up in France and so Bond is
not a big influence in the way it is in
England for example. I had seen a few of
the movies but as a child I didn't think
about whether I would be an actress
when I grew up.
WoH: Over the decades, Bond girls have undergone an evolution too, from
the famous white bikini-clad appearance of Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder
to Femke Jansen's performance as the murderous Xenia Onatopp. How do
you see the evolution of your own character in the film, Vesper Lynd? Is she
a Bond girl, or a Bond woman?
EVA: It is interesting to see that the female roles in all the Bond films are
very strong - even from the beginning. That is the one thing they have in
common. I think that Vesper Lynd is the least sexual in that it is not
necessarily her beauty that makes her a success. Actually, at the beginning
she hides her beauty because she has a serious job and she wants to be
taken seriously. Bond falls in love with her and I think she is the first
female to touch his heart and get through his MI6 fagade! Although she is
in the 21st film, she is the first female role that Ian Fleming ever wrote so it
was very important to do her justice and make her really strong but yet
vulnerable; intelligent but also very witty. It was a great role to play.
WoH: What was the best part of filming the Heineken advert?
EVA: It was a pleasure to work with Heineken on this film. I also loved
working with Stephen Gaghan. He brought an almost Hitchcockian feel to
the advert with the long shots of me running down corridors towards light
and I loved the scene of me running up the stairs - although it was quite
exhausting running up all those steps!
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