Not Your Typical James Bond Baddies

WARNING: Spoilers

Mathieu Amalric, Anatole Taubman and Jesper Christensen recently discussed their villainous roles in Quantum of Solace with MSN Movies and if what they had to say is anything to go by, 007 won’t be dealing with your typical Bond baddies.

Starting things off, Jesper Christensen remained relatively tight-lipped about what to expect from his character, Mr. White, who was first introduced in Casino Royale.

While he admitted an interrogation scene between James Bond and his character does take place, Christensen wouldn’t go into details about exactly how brutal it is: ‘Ask Daniel,’ he answered. ‘I can’t tell you.’

On trying to make Mr. White as realisitic as possible, Christensen said: ‘The modern Bond is slightly dumb, very violent, very efficient and very sort of going his own way. And you’re not quite sure you can trust him with anything because, obviously, he’s not that clever. So, if you compare him to the Roger Moore version, which was always sort of on top of everything carrying a drink, Daniel’s is a much more angry person.’

Mathieu Amalric also spoke about lead villain Dominic Greene and the goal of not making him as transparent as previous adversaries 007 has gone up against.

‘Of course, they could have made an occidental film and said, “The villain is al-Qaida,” but it’s so stupid and easy, it wouldn’t surprise people and I think people would get bored,’ he said.

As previously noted on CommanderBond.net, Amalric also revealed that another characteristic that sets Greene apart is the complete absence of any special mark or skill. While the original script originally had Greene being quite adept in martial arts, this was changed in order to make the character more believable.

Why should I know kung fu?’ said Amalric. ‘He’s just a guy who works in ecology. That’s how I can surprise Bond, because he’s used to fighting people who are professionals. It’s Tai [bo]. It’s boxing. He knows how to deal [with that], but a guy who doesn’t know how to fight? It’s like a schoolyard [brawl].’

Last, but certainly not least, was Anatole Taubman as the henchman Elvis, and reportedly, Greene’s cousin.

Describing the relationship between Greene and his character, Taubman said: ‘In previous Bond films, there was this big rift between the villain and the henchman. There is more of a balance now. He can’t do without me and I can’t do without him.’

And while Greene may appear to be the model of calm according to Taubman, ‘the devil I think is an angel compared to Elvis if he ever gets mad.’

CommanderBond.net will keep you updated with all the latest news and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.