It’s Daniel Craig’s last outing as Bond
TOPGEAR: SO, HOW ARE YOU FEELING?
DANIEL CRAIG: I’m good. It was emotional to finish; it always is to finish a movie that you’ve been working on for two years, with a bunch of people you get very close to. I’m just immensely proud of the whole thing, of the five movies. What I’ll miss most is the collaborative process that goes on when you make these films. The Bond ecosystem is unique.
TG: WHAT DID YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE THIS TIME? IT ALWAYS STARTS WITH THE SCRIPT, DOESN’T IT?
DC: When I finished Casino Royale, I thought, “We’ve made a good movie.” But I was quite prepared to go, “That’s it, I did one movie, swing and a miss,” and walk away. Because who knows what’s going to happen? It was a success, and that was amazing. But I always had in the back of my mind a story I wanted to tell, and... it kind of happened. We have a through line. And this movie is about tying all those ends up, about reconnecting him to Casino, really, and that’s what we’ve managed to do.
TG: YOU SAID ONCE THAT “THERE’S A PERFECT BOND MOVIE, AND I’M GOING TO FIND IT IF IT KILLS ME.” IS NOTIMETODIE
THAT FILM?
DC: God knows. What’s the saying? It’s all about the journey? I’m being desperately philosophical now. Look, everybody’s very happy. I’ve done this for a while now... [pause] Let me put it this way, it won’t be for lack of effort.
TG: YOU’RE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE WHOLE PROCESS, AND THE WORD IS THAT NOTIMETODIE IS MORE ‘EMOTIONAL’. FUNNILY ENOUGH, I’VE JUST REWATCHED ONHERMAJESTY’S SECRETSERVICE. THAT’S A GREAT FILM
DC: It is. Probably because there’s a big emotional journey for him in it. I’m a huge fan of big cinema, of those tent-pole films or whatever you call them, but you’ve got to have an emotional connection, you’ve got to get in there with the characters and be with them because they’re going to do extraordinary things. With Bond, the world needs saving in the first scene and he saves the world in the last scene. OK, that’s the story, so what goes on in between? You’ve got to connect. And Diana Rigg is brilliant in that film.
TG: IT’S ALSO PROOF OF HOW MUCH BOND FILMS REFLECT THEIR TIME.
DC: That’s very true. And George Lazenby wanted to get out of it because he thought Bond wasn’t relevant any more. Easy Rider had just been released. You can date the movies by what people are wearing. It’s not even to do with the politics, it’s the attitude in the movie.
TG: YOU’VE DONE SOME REALLY INTERESTING FILMS SINCE
SPECTRE. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT GETTING INTO GEAR FOR YOUR FIFTH BOND MOVIE?
DC: Well, seriously, if you can’t get it up for that, what can you get it up for? As you alluded to, I take part in a lot of this, I’m involved from conception to the end. I’m part of it in my head for a long time before we even start shooting, and that includes getting physically
ready, the meditative process. This time I played more sport, I tried to keep as agile as possible. I’m doing it daily for quite a long time. The cast is always good, but in this film it’s off the chart... [pause] There’s my inspiration.
TG: OK, ON TO CARS. WHAT’S THE SECRET TO GETTING THE BODY LANGUAGE RIGHT BEHIND THE WHEEL?
DC: Interesting question… well, you know we fake it, don’t you? The only person who didn’t fake it was Steve McQueen. We’re not allowed to do that any more, although I do go driving. I was allowed to donut the DB5 in Matera, which was great. I’m lucky to have access to a brilliant bunch of experts who take me out, and we talk about it. We talk about the correct body language behind the wheel, but often when you’re with really good drivers they don’t actually put a lot of input in. They’re also usually three inches away from the steering wheel, and that’s just not very cinematic. Look at rally drivers, they’re practically on top of the wheel, so the movements are really small. As long as you get the back end out a bit, get some opposite lock on... [pause] Look cool! That’s all you can do…’
TG: DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE BOND CAR?
DC: The Toyota 2000GT convertible. It’s so unusual. That Japanese design thing, it’s an amalgamation of so many different things, I loved that. The Aston V8 that we get back into this film… the DBS [in Casino Royale] is a special car. I got to drive those quite a lot, and broke a couple of them. Blew the clutch up. I’m quite heavy-footed.