"The most interesting place for a James Bond movie to go is inward – deeper into Bond himself."

After remaining relatively tight-lipped over his upcoming job of helming Daniel Craig’s second James Bond film, Swiss director Marc Forster has given an interview to The New York Times that focuses almost exclusively on 007.

Bond 22 director Marc Forster

“I was surprised, and I had to think hard about whether I wanted to do [Bond 22],” the award-winning director of Monster’s Ball and Finding Neverland said. “I’m not sure I could have found a way into Bond before Daniel Craig reinvented him.”

Forster said Craig offered “a completely new interpretation of the character … very isolated, a man who’s damaged in some way. This James Bond is darker, more tormented. He’s humanised, in a sense.”

Which is precisely the direction Forster wants to take the character. “In the ’60s and ’70s, when Sean Connery and Roger Moore were playing the role, a large part of the appeal of the James Bond movies was the travel to exotic locations, but that’s not such an attraction anymore,” Forster said. “People travel a lot more now, and with the Internet they’re more aware of what the rest of the world is like. In a way the most interesting place for a James Bond movie to go is inward – deeper into Bond himself.”

That won’t stop Bond 22 from being a globe-trotting adventure, though; Forster revealed a recent location scout to Panama also included a stopover in Chile and a flyover of Brazil.

“I’m not sure I could have found a way into Bond before Daniel Craig reinvented him.” – Marc Forster

Despite openly admitting to being “not really an action director”, Forster said he was “very pleased” with Oscar-winning writer Paul Haggis’ script, delivered just two hours before the Writers Guild of America strike began. “It’s a script I can shoot.”

Forster’s introduction to James Bond appears blurry. “I can’t really remember what the first James Bond movie I saw was. It must have been in the mid-’80s, because there was no television in my house, and I didn’t see many movies until then. Roger Moore was in it, I think.”

However, the director admits to having a good feeling about Bond 22. “You know, James Bond’s mother is Swiss. That will make it all worthwhile.”

For the full interview, check out The New York Times website.

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