Mads Mikkelsen On Le Chiffre And Casino Royale
Mads Mikkelsen, who is to play the villainous Le Chiffre in the upcoming James Bond film, Casino Royale, spoke today to FilmFocus about playing a Bond villain and co-star Daniel Craig.
‘It’s Bond!’ said the actor. ‘I don’t know the films that well, I saw some of them when I was a kid, but it’s so much fun. I’m part of a legend. Orson Welles played Le Chiffre before me; that’s huge! There’s nothing that can prepare you for [the scale of the production.] It’s just such a different world.’
On the character that he is playing, Mikkelsen said, ‘Le Chiffre is a greedy bastard who wants a lot of money… He’s not trying to take over the world; he’s just a greedy bastard like the rest of us! I think people can relate to him. He’s a baddie, basically, but we always tried to put a little dualism into the character. Of course, he doesn’t have that camera time, that screen time, to really go with that, but it’s definitely there.’
And what of co-star Daniel Craig? ‘Daniel is a fantastic Bond and I think he’s actually going to be the Bond for this generation. People are really underestimating him but they’re going to be surprised. It’s going to be a great film.’
Read the full interview with Mads Mikkelsen here. Stay tuned to CBn for all the latest news on Casino Royale and all things James Bond 007.
Casino Royale is the 21st James Bond 007 film produced by franchise holders Eon Productions. The MGM/Columbia Pictures production began shooting in January and is due for release worldwide on 17 November 2006. Starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, it is currently being filmed in the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and the UK.
The film co-stars Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino, Simon Abkarian, Tobias Menzies, Ivana Milicevic, Clemens Schik, Ludger Pistor, Claudio Santamaria, and Isaach De Bankole.