GADGET INSPECTOR

Ben Whishaw is as busy as a bee as Bond’s boffin.

Do you get recognised as Q now?

Yes. I don’t feel that it’s the only thing that people recognise me for, and I guess that’s nice. But [ being Q has] definitely changed things.

How tech-savvy are you in real life? Are you someone who struggles to set the Sky box?

Oh God, yeah, I’m terrible. But that’s why it’s fun to play, because you’re just playing a fantasy. It’s not real at all. They gave me touch-typing classes and stuff. I remain not very good, even after these classes.

You’ve also got The Lobster and Suffragette coming out in the same month as SPECTRE. Do you like that audiences will be able to see different sides of you?

It’s lovely. [The Lobster is] just stunning – truly original and completely uncompromising. It’s about as different as you can have [ to SPECTRE]. [Suffragette] is a strong film, an important film. I think it’s wonderful to do things that reach a big audience. I’ve not really had that experience before. But it’s also really wonderful to do something that’s more challenging and perhaps more uncomfortable for people, but sort of exhilarating in its pushing into something more unknown.

Tell us about your role as Herman Melville in the upcoming In The Heart Of The Sea.

The Melville strand of the film is kind of a framing device. It has a little arc, but I don’t get to go out to have the big adventure on the water. I’m sure it will be this brilliant mixture of spectacle, excitement and drama.

And you’ve also got The Danish Girl with Eddie Redmayne coming up…

I’m only a small part in that, but I’m very excited to see it. I fall for Eddie’s character, when he is dressed as a woman but not yet a woman. Eddie makes an incredibly beautiful woman – he looks like Julianne Moore or something!

Do kids ever hear you talk and realise that you are Paddington?

Sam Mendes’ son, Joe, came to set and said, “Dad, is Q also Paddington?” He’s the only one who’s made the connection. JC