We Got This Covered: How long was the audition process for each of you? And how hard was it to keep a secret?
Naomie Harris: For me, I was in a play directed by Danny Boyle called Frankenstein. Sam Mendes came to see it and I had no idea that he was in the audience. The day after though I got a message from my agent saying that he was considering me for a role in Skyfall. I had two auditions but I didn’t take them seriously because I never saw myself as a Bond girl.
So I wasn’t nervous because I never thought I’d be cast anyway. But then in the third audition Sam told me it was down to me and two others and then it really sunk in. At that point I became nervous. Danny Boyle gave me a glowing report too so I have a lot to thank him for. When I got the role, I had to keep it a secret for about two months so it was very difficult, especially because I was so happy and wanted to tell everybody.
Bérénice Marlohe: A friend of mine told me that they were holding auditions for the new Bond movie and I got excited. I spent a few days trying to get some information on the project and finally I found Debbie Williams’ (the casting agent) email and so I sent her my reel. I got a call back and then I auditioned with Sam. I then did another audition with Daniel and Sam and finally, I met with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson and after that, Sam told me I was chosen.
We Got This Covered: How was your experience working with Daniel Craig?
Bérénice Marlohe: It was fantastic. I was excited to work with such a talented individual like Daniel. He’s so kind and has a wonderful sense of humor. Everything was so fluid and natural with him, he was very easy to work with.
Naomie Harris: Daniel remembers what it was like coming into the franchise and how intimidating and overwhelming it was for him. So he really goes out of his way to make sure that you don’t feel that pressure and that the pressure is shared. He holds your hand throughout the whole thing and is just a very generous person.
We Got This Covered: Any memorable moments from the set?
Naomie Harris: The story that sums up Daniel is the first time I met him. He was having a costume fitting and I was asked if I wanted to meet him. I was intimidated and didn’t want to disturb him in a costume fitting, I didn’t think that would make a good first impressions. As he was having his fitting though, I was walking down the hallway and as I passed by his room, he saw me walk by. So he ran out of his fitting, ran down the hallway, hit me over the head and said “where are you going stupid?” He then gave me this massive hug and said welcome on board. And that for me sums up Daniel. He’s so warm and down to earth.
We Got This Covered: When it comes to Bond’s relationship with women, do you think he’s still a love them and leave them type of guy, or has he kind of evolved in the past three films?
Naomie Harris: You see in Casino Royale, Craig’s first outing as Bond, you see that he is capable of falling in love. So I think that his attitude has changed. In this movie though, you see there’s something damaged about him which prohibits him from forming these deep attachments. But you feel like he’s open to it, he just has issues. He needs to go to therapy before he’s able to make deep, meaningful attachments. With the films now though, you’re seeing women who are equal to him, so it’s a much more interesting journey as opposed to the older films, when the women were just eye candy.
That concludes our interview with Bérénice and Naomie but we’d like to thank them very much for talking with us. Be sure to check out Skyfall, which arrives in North America tomorrow.