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Interview with Olga Kurylenko, Actress Quantum of Solace

By John Delia

Ever chat with a beautiful woman and get tongue-tied? Well, I almost did when I interviewed the newest James Bond Girl in Miami. Her role is that of a tough cookie in Quantum of Solace, however the conversation I had with her was nice and easy.
Although she may be known in the future as one of the Bond Girls, Olga had already made a name for herself in Hollywood with some very high profile films. She played in the high energy films Hit Man with Timothy Olyphant and as the hot siren Natasha opposite Mark Wahlberg in Max Payne. Those two quick hits put her in front of millions of moviegoers, but I predict she will be on top of the world when Quantum of Solace hits the screen.
Quantum of Solace finds James Bond (Daniel Craig) back in action exactly where he left off in Casino Royale. His new mission has him moving from one country to the next in pursuit of Dominic Green the ruthless head of an organization called Quantum. His trek leads him to South America, where with his newest bond girl Camille (Olga), he corners the mysterious man who’s trying to get power over a small country.

Your Entertainment Ticket: You have chosen some very good sexy characters in past films you were in. What was your motivation to play a tough Bond Girl and how did you prepare for it?
Olga: “Everything about the role made me want to play it. The role was just so exciting to me, because I had so much to learn. I had to go through so much transformation for my part, that I think it’s the movie that I had to make the biggest change. I am not even talking about all the fight training I had to do and learning to sky dive and working with guns, all of which I have never done before. Learning to adopt a different accent and being a person from a different country, getting a tan and physically trying to look like a Latina, and everything, was a lot of work. I was a different person than I am in my real life, so I had to get into a different skin.”

YET: But weren’t you a tough person in your other films?
O: “I haven’t been very rough in any of the other movies except this one. This is the first one where I am a fighter because in Hitman and Max Payne I am just a girl. So this is the first experience where I was involved in action scenes. Now I don’t want to do just that, but this was amazing because it was the first time. Anything that’s new to me is amazing.”

YET: Tell us about your character. What was Camille like? Did you do some of your stunts?
O: “Kicking a guys butt does feel good especially when I am fighting this big guy Medrano. I mean my character Camille was very well prepared and obviously went through a lot of training. It is possible to be a woman like that, but it is very rare. You have to have a strong background and that is obviously where she is coming from. ”



YET: Now that you have described your character, what was the most difficult part of your role?
O: “The most difficult part was getting all the stunt things right. It was all very precise and very technical and I had to train very hard for it. Even little thing like punches that look easy on the screen was still very difficult to do. It is not like fighting in real life, as you have to also make it look good in front of the camera. That is why stunt guys are stunt guys because they know how to do it on camera. It has to be much faster because the camera catches everything. You need to do it precisely and that is why we trained for six months and then you see it on screen and it is thirty seconds, but it took so much work. That was something new for me apart from the acting. I had to suddenly become a stunt woman too. It was like a different job. I had some bruises and cuts, but that was to be expected.”

YET: Do you think the audience will like the film and your character Quantum of Solace?
O: “I think this movie will please all kinds of people. It is made for a very big audience and I hope they enjoy it. The people I have met who have seen the movie at a screening have been so happy that I am portraying this different strong woman. I think women are very satisfied to see this woman who can kick ass. I am glad for women like her. It is very important.”

YET: Were there any fun experiences you can relate that happened on the set?
O: “We had fun making the movie. Even when we were fighting with the stunt guys we were always joking amongst ourselves. We spent six months together so I can’t come up with anything specific. We just had a really good time because the people were so nice.”

YET: What was it like working with Daniel Craig?
O: “Working with Daniel Craig was good. He is a wonderful actor. He is a good inspiration because you see this actor who works so much and is so focused on his role. I have never seen anyone so focused. He worked on his role everyday, all the time. He does many of the stunts himself so he sets the bar really high. You want to keep yourself at his level. He is a good example so it made me work even harder too. Everybody is so involved it makes you want to be involved that much more. When I came on board, I already wanted to be involved because it was exciting, but when you see these people working it inspires you even more.”

YET: How did you get the part of Camille in Quantum of Solace?
O: “The audition process was different in that it was long. For this movie I went through three tours, three different auditions and each time I got a call back the circle was smaller and smaller. At the end I was very happy when I found out I got it. The casting process was intense because this movie was so big. It is not like any other movie. This was Bond, the biggest movie of the year. You feel tense. It is a big competition to go through. I knew there were a number of people all around the world going for it so in the beginning you think what is your chances when there are so many people from around the world. It is kind of unbelievable.”

YET: There are many Bond Girls over the years of making 007 series. Do you have a favorite Bond Girl?
O: “I don’t have any favorite Bond girls. They are all been different and great. Some have been less interesting as a character as they were just there for eye candy but the last one I thought was a beautiful character in Casino Royale. She was smart and independent.”

YET: You were born in Russia in the late 70’s. What was it like growing up during that time and what is it like now?
O: “In the Ukraine today people are doing slightly better as they have more opportunities. My situation changed so I am helping my family, but there are still people who struggle and have no money. If you keep working and you study and get an education there are jobs. Before there was nothing, no matter what you tried there were no opportunities. You know what I mean? Now there are professions that can allow you to earn, but still there are many that are underpaid. The most important professions like doctors and teachers are always underpaid. The people who make us who we are and the people who save our lives, are the ones that are the most underpaid. It is not fair, but that is life. Life is very unfair. It makes no sense.”

Interview with Daniel Craig, Actor Quantum of Solace

By John Delia

Daniel Craig was in Miami recently and with his newest Bond film Quantum of Solace opening, he was eager to do interviews. First of all, the man does not seem to break character in real life. He’s in command, even in an interview, which blew me away with his strong commitment to the film and his frank answers to my questions.
Craig debut in film came with Power of One in which he played the small role of Sgt. Botha. In 2001 he played opposite Angelina Jolie in Laura Croft: Tomb Raider and a year later in Road to Perdition as Conner Rooney opposite Paul Newman. In 2004 Craig got the starring role in Layer Cake, a crime drama in which he plays a gangster. Since that time he has been on the big screen steadily showing his diverse acting ability in The Jacket, Sorstalanság, Munich, Infamous, Casino Royale, The Invasion, The golden Compass and Defiance. With Quantum of Solace it marks Craig’s 51st appearances that includes film, TV, video and video games.
Quantum of Solace finds James Bond (Craig) back in action exactly where he left off in Casino Royale. His new mission has him moving from one country to the next in pursuit of Dominic Green the ruthless head of an organization called Quantum. His trek leads him to South America where with his newest bond girl Camille (Olga Kurylenko) he corners the mysterious man who’s trying to get power over a small country.

Your Entertainment Ticket: I understand you have signed up for at least two more Bond films. Your Casino Royale made nearly 600 million worldwide. Where do you see the franchise heading?

Craig: “Yes, I signed for four and this is number two. We are nearly there. Nearly over. What we are trying to achieve with the second movie is to make a solid base. One of the biggest things is you’ve got to live up to the expectations that everybody expects from a Bond movie. Everyone expects the ‘Bondisms’, for lack of a better word. They all expect the martinis and the characters Q and M and all those people and I think we need to earn all those things. You can’t just plunk them straight into a movie and expect them to work. I don’t think they work as well as they use to. So what this has been about is the earning of all those things. So as far as I am concerned we’ve done that so we can do whatever we want now. We can introduce Q back in or we can introduce Moneypenny or we can introduce the submarine base if we need to. We are there. We’ve got to that point and I am very excited about doing another movie.”

YET: Do you have any input into the scripts of this or future Bond films?
C: “I actually have input on the script. I have been involved with this script from the beginning of its conception just because I am like that.”

YET: Do you consider yourself a sex symbol?
C: “I actually don’t think about those things (sex symbol issues). We make the sexiest, most beautiful best Bonds we can and if they appeal, they appeal and if they do that’s great.”

YET: Were you a Bond fan growing up and are you one now that you are portraying him as an edgier character?
C: “Yes, I was a Bond fan. I love the fact that he is edgier now but I always thought he was a bit edgy. I take most of my cues from the older movies like From Russia with Love and Doctor No. I think they were very edgy and I think what Sean Connery did was develop an incredibly strong character from the Ian Fleming novels, but he made him into a very edgy man. I would never ever copy what has been done. All of the Bonds have done wonderful jobs. I just put my take, my attitude towards it. I’ve read all the books, done the research and I am a Bond fan and so that is what I aim to put into the character.”

YET: Can you define your Bond and are there some things you still want to change?
C: “(laughing) I have not found a favorite way to catch villains yet, but when I do I will let you know. Bond is a double 0 because he is an assassin. That is how he makes his living. I would like to think we will strike a balance one of these days between lover and killer with Bond.”

YET: How physical is it to play Bond?
C: “The physicality of the character has been the hardest. There was a lot to do but it is very satisfying as I am working with some of the best people in the business. We are pushing each other to try and improve on what we did in Casino Royale. I think we’ve topped it, which was pretty difficult.”

YET: In the film Bond is doing a lot of difficult jumps and falls while chasing or fleeing the bad guys. So why did you take a chance on getting hurt by doing your own stunts?
C: “I think it’s just a tradition. There is a tradition, an old Hollywood tradition about Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, I am a huge fan of those people. When they did their scenes, there was no camera cuts, no special effects, that was them, up the tower or the house falling, and I think it sort of goes…There is something within me that goes ‘Do it, do it! And you make it as safe and you make it as exciting as possible.”

YET: What were some of the most difficult stunts you had to do?
C: “I think the fall into the art gallery. The ropes were really tough (In a scene in Quantum of Solace Bond has to drop crashing through a skylight into an art gallery). There are two doubles. I have an acrobat and a gymnast who do a lot of that stuff but I was hanging up there quite a lot and it’s very tough.”

YET: How was it working with Director Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, The Kite Runner)?
C: “The biggest thrill I get out of this job is working with the people I do. The chance to work with Marc Forster was always a dream because I’ve admired him as a director. If you had told me three years ago that he was going to direct a Bond movie I would have told you that you were silly, but actually it has worked out so well.”

YET: What scenes are on the cutting room floor that you thought should stay in the film?
C: “I got over that a long time ago as an actor so there are none on the cutting room floor that bother me. You have to really get over that because the amount of times you go and watch a performance or movie you’ve done and you go hey where has it gone but once you finish a movie you have to hand it over to the director because he is the one who has the overview. He is the one actually telling the story. I honesty look at the movie and can’t remember the other stuff we did. I just wait until the DVD extras and say oh I had forgotten we did that because it is just gone from my memory. If I trust the director I accept his choices and I accept his cuts. This movie is very fast and very punchy so there is probably tons of stuff that I’ve forgotten about.”

YET: The movie was shot in many countries. Was there any one place that was best and will remember the most?
C: “I loved shooting in Colon, Panama. We were there a very long time so we got to know the place very well. It is a very deprived place Colon and it’s got this art deco city that is poor and on the other side of the Panama Canal you’ve got this amazing Caribbean coastline. It is just insane, but the warmth of the people was great. They just sort of dragged us in and looked after us and took care of us. That is one of my most memorable. Every place was memorable but that one is the one that will live in my heart I think.”

YET: Olga Kurylenko plays opposite you in the film. What was it like working with this new Bond girl?
C: “Olga has done just a wonderful job. She is not the classic Bond girl. She plays a very strong character that is on a vendetta. Bond’s journey is about something else and Olga just brings this strength and beauty to the role. I think they complement each other very well. She is the one on a vendetta. Everybody thinks Bond is on a vendetta, but he really isn’t. He is just a loose cannon.”