With the latest James Bond movie Quantum of Solace set to open this weekend, itâs time for me to run all the interviews I participated in with the cast. And up firstâ¦the newest Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko.
As always, you can either read the transcript below or listen to the audio by clicking here. Finally, if youâd like to watch some clips from Quantum of Solace
Question: We heard that Marc had 100 tapes, down to 20 girls, down to four, down to you.
Olga: Really?
Yeah. So what was that process like for you? Did you submit a tape and then go through this whole audition process?
Olga: I felt the pressure. I did three auditions altogether so, with the first one, I wasn't pressured because I thought 'ah', I got there and realized I had the wrong text so I thought 'okay. I'll never...this starts very nice'. I thought 'okay, it's not happening' so I tried to memorize the text before I had a few people in front of me. They were seeing other girls waiting in the waiting room so I just let other people in front of me and just tried to learn but I couldn't remember the whole thing so I half-improvised. But, they called me back and I went to London and met Barbara, Michael and Marc Forster and did the second audition, with the right text this time and I got called back for the third one and the third one was again in London at Pinewood Studios with Daniel and that's when I first met Daniel. After that, I waited for about three weeks and I got the answer.
Some of these scenes, the fight scenes and the fire scenes, what did you expect and what was it really like?
Olga: I didn't realize, because even though you read the script, you never know exactly how (it will work). I had never taken part in any action scenes. It was the first time so, amazingly, I didn't even have time to imagine because from the moment I found out that I got the part there was, I think, less than a week that my agent said 'pack your bags. You're leaving'. So, I went to
Did you see any of the Bond films growing up?
Olga: Growing up, no but much later, yes.
What kind of training did they put you through?
Olga: Fight training. That one, I had four hours per day every day. Then we learned how to sky-dive and we had to go into this wind tunnel which is outside of
Of all the stunts you did in this film, which was the scariest?
Olga: To me, it was on the boat. That was the most difficult and the most breathtaking. It was like being on a roller-coaster. It was just really, really a lot of emotions because it was going so fast.
Was it on a gimble in a studio?
Olga: No, no. I wouldn't have been scared if it was. That's the thing. It was all for real.
You are the first Bond Girl who doesn't hook up with Bond and she mirrors his desire for revenge. Did you think that was really cool when you read it?
Olga: Sure. I was very happy. Yeah, I'm very happy and proud that she didn't sleep with Bond (laughter). It's okay. He slept with all of them in twenty-one movies, you know? Here is a change. But, he was behaving well, so we gave him a kiss (big smile and laughter).
When you were on the Bond set shooting, did you suddenly have a lot more friends who wanted to visit you on set?
Olga: Did you say 'suddenly I have a lot more friends?'. That is true too. Suddenly I have a lot of friends, people who haven't spoken to me in years are like 'Yea! I'm so happy'. Yeah, right. Where were you before? It's weird and I'm sure it's coming, 'oh, she became a star and she doesn't want to communicate'. No! You, didn't want to communicate for years and then you are suddenly very interested. It's so easy to turn things. Probably, when they speak about others, it's like 'Oh, we were friends and then, one day he wouldn't talk to us anymore'. But, what they're not saying is that they didn't give a shit about the person for years and then suddenly, they're coming. That's easy. No, no, no. I appreciate people who were there when I was nobody and they were with me and are my real friends. Not just people who are suddenly falling out of the sky on my head.
This has been a good year for you with Max Payne doing so well.
Olga: Oh, yeah. How is that? I didn't see it. They told me on TV that it was out. I didn't know. I was doing this little morning show, 'yes, you have this movie that's coming out today' and it's live and I said 'really? Which one? (laughter). They said 'Max Payne' you don't know?' I said 'no'. That was on 'Good Day
Did you film "Max Payne" before Bond or after?
Olga: In the middle. I was doing Bond and they flew me to
Have you shot anything since Bond or are you getting ready to shoot anything?
Olga: Yes, I finished this Israeli film which I shot in
What was it like working with Daniel. Was he kind?
I've read that you are afraid of heights so you weren't too happy doing the balcony scene.
Olga: Yeah. I don't like heights. Yeah, first I was like 'oh, let me get used to that' and I couldn't really so they worked with me, the stunt guys. They said 'look, we're going to show you how it works'. They showed me that they could do it. When I see people do it, I think 'oh, if they can do it, I can do it too'. So, basically, by the end I could do it. They made me do it and I learned.
In the boat scenes, was it more a matter of getting knocked around in the boat or was it that you got sea sick? What was it?
Olga: I'm actually not seasick. I love boats. I can be on a boat for days. I'm lucky with that but it was the scene because it was just going so fast and it was not just going straight. It was abruptly turning and bumping into...remember, there is a crash and I was in the boat when we crashed! They were for real crashing. They were going into these guys, crashing into them and you get hit and you have to hold onto the guys. When they scream 'hold on', I was like 'okay, what does that mean?' It was very hard not to fall out of the boat.. That was the only moment that we could hold on because we were hitting the other boat so we had to hold on. But, we couldn't hold onto anything because we were fighting so we're not attached and suddenly the boat is going really fast and jumping because there are waves so it's really unstable and I have to suddenly get forward and do the whole thing and there's the text so it was very hard physically to stay stable and still to do our choreography that we rehearsed and everything, just to do it well. It was really hard conditions because the boat wasn't standing on the planks.
We heard that there were some paparazzi around the set trying to get pictures. Was that your first experience with the hardcore paparazzi journalists?
Olga: No, it wasn't a pain because the people who worked on this movie were very professional and they really protected us really well. There were guys waiting for us at the entrance of the hotel. What can you do? They're there. We tried to go through different entrances and exits so they wouldn't take pictures but, in Chili, the guys were sleeping there. They were there at night so they'd get us in the morning. We were leaving really early, like sometimes at 4:30 AM and the guys were there. They were sleeping there or else how would they... it was all dark and they were there.
How many months were you actually shooting? Which countries did you get to go to?
Olga: I stayed with the team for 6 months straight, all the time, because I had to train otherwise. I shot in
If you had a choice of one place to go back to just to spend a week, which one would it be?
Olga:
What was the best?
Olga: The best landscapes Iâve ever seen in my entire life. Iâve never seen something like that. I recommend it to everybody. Iâm doing such good publicity for
Prior to Daniel Craig, did you have a favorite James Bond? Who do you think encapsulated James Bond the best?
Olga: Daniel Craig.
When you were growing up, did you have a favorite James Bond?
Olga: I think Daniel is a really different Bond. Seriously, I do because when I watched Casino Royale I didnât think I was going to do this and thatâs what I thought. I remember I came out of the movie theater and I thought wow, I really liked this film. It was great. I really liked it. And also even the Bond girl which changed. I thought this one was really interesting. Otherwise, Sean Connery was pretty good I guess. Iâm not the only one whoâ¦
When you got the part, did you do a crash course and re-watch a bunch of Bond movies to mentally prepare?
Olga: I re-watched or watched for the first time some old ones that I hadnât seen just to see how they were before [a few inaudible words??] and I re-watched some that Iâd watched already. I re-watched the one with Michelle Yeoh (Tomorrow Never Dies) because I knew she was fighting and I knew I had a lot of fight scenes that I had to do and I knew I was going to do them by myself. She inspired me because sheâs the one that always does all the stunt scenes by herself. Sheâs known for performing martial arts and she did it so well. I watched that movie just for the inspiration.
Which costume did you like best?
Olga: My favorite is what Iâm wearing in the end â the cargo pants. Itâs comfy, itâs totally me. Thatâs what I would wear every day. Thatâs what I feel comfortable with.
So not the black dress that was all cut up?
Olga: No. I just like sports shoes, something comfortable, and I think itâs sexy. I think itâs really sexy. The black dress was cute. I mean it was just a black dress, simple. There were no sparkles. It was quite plain and not too ⦠it doesnât stand out too much which is good. I think it fits Camille because she doesnât want to attract too much attention and because sheâs doing her own thing so she canât do that. Sheâs going for something quite subtle, dark.
What are you working on next?
Olga: Iâm in the process of reading different scripts and meeting different people and choosing the projects Iâm going to work on next because there are a few and theyâre all different. I have some projects from
Are they in French?
Olga: Yeah, yeah, sure. I started acting in
Can you talk a little about what got you into acting? Where did you grow up?
Olga: I grew up in the
What was on the tape or DVD that you sent to Marc Forster?
Thatâs the casting. I didnât send anything. There were 3 tours and the first one, of course, was because Iâm in
You donât know which films of yours were on the actualâ¦
Oh no, no. I told you there was a casting director and I arrived and I had to do the text. It was this audition. I guess the casting director then sent everything to them and they just choose because they canât see the big number. I think in every country thereâs a casting director who films girls and then they choose.
I thought he saw one of your films.
Olga: No, no. Actually I think heâs never seen anything before he saw me. Thatâs what he told me. I think someone suggested he see Hitman and he said I donât want to see it. Thatâs what he told me. I said did you see me? He said no, no. They suggested it to me. I said I didnât want to see it because I saw what you did for the audition. It was enough. I knew thatâs what I was looking for.
Are you still living in
Olga: Yes.
Olga: Yes.
Chili?
Olga: Chili? (laughs)I love it there. Thatâs an amazing country.