Interview With Winner Of 'Best Female Stunt'

The Newham Recorder interviewed Taurus winner Jaime Blake, the gym teacher from Beckton, East London (a place with its own claim to fame, as parts of the pre-credits sequence of For Your Eyes Only were shot at the gas works there) who scooped one of the awards at the Taurus World Stunt Awards in June.

Film fans across the world have seen Jaime Blake, 26, doing a backwards somersault from the top of a ladder over a sword in a burning plane and being blown up.

For Jaime, who was plucked from obscurity for her debut film and had no real stunt training, it was her spectacular performance in this scene in the third act of Die Another Day that earned her the accolade.

She was invited to a Hollywood awards ceremony to mingle with some of the world’s biggest stars while wearing a £10,000 dress. She made a speech before them – and TV audiences in more than 60 countries. The Taurus World Stunt Awards are thought of as the industry’s very own ‘Oscars’.

“Most professional stunt performers spend their whole careers never even getting nominated for the honour,” said Jaime who is a coach at the East London Gymnastics Club in Frobisher Road.

Jaime, and the other two female stunt performers in the scene, jointly scooped the title for the Best Overall Stunt by a Woman. They received a trophy each, worth approximately £10,000, that is 3ft tall.

It is so big and heavy that Jaime has been unable to do much with hers since it arrived at her home in a case secured by three padlocks and a combination lock – except use it as a very expensive doorstop!

Jaime joined the club aged seven. She was a member of the Great Britain squad for five years and competed in countless competitions at home and abroad. For the last eight years she has shared her expertise as a coach at the club.

She received a call through her South London-based sports modelling agency, Twist and Flick, to audition for Die Another Day.

She was amazed to win the role. Jaime, who was given star treatment throughout her time at Pinewood Studios, said: “I had such a great day that, even if I hadn’t got the part, I wouldn’t have been disappointed. It’s not every day that you get to spend time on a film set. That alone was like winning a competition.”

Filming, which took place throughout much of last summer, was a really great experience, according to Jaime. She said she was “treated like a princess”. With the help of make-up and a wig, she was transformed into Halle Berry.

The real Halle was great to work with and very down-to-earth for a Hollywood star, said Jaime.
“She loved watching me do all the back flips and her little daughter loved watching as well.
“When she finished her scenes she waited around and stayed to watch us. Lots of stars wouldn’t do that.”

Jaime said Bond actor Pierce Brosnan is a “really nice, cheeky and very charming” person.
Despite her amazing experiences, Jaime has no plans to leave Newham. She said: “I’m East London through and through. I couldn’t leave the club now. I love teaching so much.
“My feet are firmly on the floor. All this has been an unreal experience. It hasn’t changed me at all. It makes me smile whenever I look back on it all and think about how lucky I was to have done it. But I’m a gym coach!

The film itself, Die Another Day was no stranger to the awards, with nominations in no less than five catagories, but only the “Best Stunt By A Woman” was ultimately won, with more in-depth information to be found here.

With thanks to The Newham Recorder for its news and pictures.

Aston Martin Hit By First Strike

Aston Martin, the luxury car maker owned by Ford, faces its first ever strike when workers at its two UK factories down tools at the start of the 9 o’clock shift tomorrow morning (8th August).

The strike is over a new shift pattern – nicknamed the Martini shift – which the Transport & General Workers’ Union claims has made workers fear that they can be told to work any time and anywhere the company wants.

The walkout will hit production at Newport Pagnell, Bucks, and Bloxham, near Banbury in Oxfordshire. The union claims 430 workers will take part.

Aston Martin workers work the longest hours of any in Ford’s Premier Automotive Group but are at the lower end of the company’s pay league,’ said John Street of the T&GWU. ‘They have reacted with some anger after being faced with these demands for compulsory overtime.

With the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish replacing BMW as James Bond’s car in the movies, the group has been planning to increase production of the £120,000-plus sports cars from 1500 to 5000 a year.

Street said: The company expects to bring in new shifts which brings pressure on the workers and leads to a Spartan lifestyle. This is not a militant workforce but an angry and frustrated one.

Thanks to the Evening Standard. Please make use of this thread of the CBn Forums should you want to discuss this news.

Toby Stephens' Top Billing In Bollywood Film

British actor Toby Stephens, or Gustav Graves to you and me, will be starring in forthcoming Bollywood film The Rising, also featuring Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee and supposed future Bond girl Aishwarya Rai, according to entertainment site Glamsham.com and Mid-Day Mumbai.

According to the producer, Bobby Bedi, The Rising is “an epic tale of friendship, love, loss and betrayal set against the backdrop of the Indian mutiny of 1857”.

“During a fierce battle in the Afghan wars of the mid-century, Mangal Pande (played by Khan), a heroic sepoy, rescues his British commanding officer, William Gordon (Stephens).”

The two become close friends until their friendship is undermined by the introduction of new gun cartridges for the Enfield rifle. “The new cartridge requires soldiers to bite through their greased casing, made from animal fat,” adds Bedi.

Both Hindu and Muslim soldiers object but Gordon (Stephens) gives an assurance, which later proves false, that the bullets are free from pollution. When the truth is discovered, a mutiny breaks out with Mangal Pande leading the rebels pitched against his old friend.

For the role, Stephens is taking lessons in Hindi and is is currently reading William Dalrymple’s White Mughuls and Saul David’s Indian Mutiny to try to understand the complex relationship between the British and the Indians.

Stephens has raised expectations that in future British actors, who have traditionally looked to Hollywood and the British industry for work, will also see Bollywood as offering opportunities.
He will be on location in India from October to March.

Stephens was expected to pursue a career in Hollywood after playing the villain Gustav Graves in the last Bond movie, Die Another Day. But he required no persuading from Bollywood as he did not want to “cash in on this Bond thing” and be typecast as a Hollywood villain.

Mariah Carey To Sing For Bond 21?

After the oh-so-unlikely rumour of Pink being in talks with producers regarding the next Bond film two weeks ago, CBn can report that Mariah Carey is now supposedly meeting with MGM and Eon.

Rumours circulating in the US suggest that Carey has already agreed to sing the lead track from the 21st Bond film, according to Dotmusic News.

The film – which is scheduled to be Pierce Brosnan’s last in the role – is (apparently) in the early stages of pre-production but Carey could come on board if she gets a cameo role herself.

Dotmusic reports that Carey is interested in a part in the movie on a similar standing as Madonna’s brief recent appearance in Die Another Day, which didn’t go down to well with fans.

“Mariah has had meetings with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson,” an unnamed source is reported to have said.

“She was asked if she’d consider singing the theme tune for Bond 21. Mariah said she wanted a part in the new film although the story hasn’t been discussed yet.”
Just the sort of role she would need to kick-start her flagging career.

If the film is tipped for a 2005 release then this all seems very premature. In fact, it’s premature even for a 2004 release, so CBn sincerely suggests as with the Pink report, that you treat this as a highly unlikely rumour.
However, whatever happens, Commanderbond.net will keep you informed.

Source: dotmusic.com. With thanks to doublenoughtspy for the tip-off. Please discuss in this thread of the CBn Forums.