2022 Pioneers Of The Year Award

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The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation (WRMPPF) announced today that Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli will receive the 2022 Pioneer of the Year Award on 21 September at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

A tradition for more than 70 years, the Pioneer of the Year Award honours leaders in the motion picture industry whose career achievements and commitment to philanthropy is exemplary. It is one of the most prestigious honors in the US entertainment industry and within the philanthropic community. The event benefits WRMPPF’s Pioneers Assistance Fund which provides financial assistance to individuals in the motion picture distribution and exhibition community who are encountering an illness, injury, or life-changing event.

“We are thrilled that Michael and Barbara will be receiving this well-deserved honour,” said Jim Orr, Chairman, Pioneers Assistance Fund Committee and President, Domestic Theatrical Distribution at Universal Pictures. “Their contributions to the film industry as producers, including their outstanding support of the exhibition community and cinematic experience, have made them true pioneers in the field. We look forward to celebrating Michael and Barbara’s achievements at the Pioneer of the Year Dinner and raising much-needed funds for the Pioneers Assistance Fund.”

Photography: Greg Williams

Bond At The BAFTA Awards

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The 75th British Academy Film Awards took place in London last night and started with a celebration of Bond’s 60th Anniversary. After an action-packed highlights montage of the 25 films, Dame Shirley Bassey took to the stage with a glittering rendition of Diamonds Are Forever, which concluded with a standing ovation from the audience. Cue host Rebel Wilson, who appeared in classic Bond silhouette, before showing off her Daniel Craig leg tattoo. It was then onto the awards.

Congratulations to Lashana Lynch who was presented the EE Rising Star Award by Lady GaGa and Bukky Bakray. It is the only BAFTA award voted for by the public, honouring actors who have shown outstanding talent on screen over the past year and captured the attention of the film industry. In her speech Lashana thanked Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Cary Joji Fukunaga and everyone involved in No Time To Die before saying “I would like to thank the women of this country who taught me what it is to be in this industry as a dark-skinned woman,” she told the ceremony. “I thank you for laying the foundation for people like me.”

Tom Cross and Elliot Graham collected the BAFTA for Editing on No Time To Die in a competitive category which included Dune and Belfast. They thanked their team of assistant editors including Elise Anderson and Martin Corbett, Director Cary Joji Fukunaga, Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig. Tom Cross said working on a James Bond film had always been a dream and dedicated his award to legendary editor Peter Hunt who worked on Dr. No 60 years ago.

Art Directors Guild Win For Bond

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Congratulations to No Time To Die Production Designer, Mark Tildesley, on his award for Best Production Design: Contemporary Feature Film at the Art Directors Guild Awards. 

The ceremony took place in LA and is dedicated to the work of art directors and production design, celebrating excellence across 13 categories of film, television, commercials, music videos and animation features. 

Mark and his team were responsible for bringing the visual world of No Time To Die alive, taking us from Bond’s beach house in Jamaica, to the streets of Cuba and Safin’s poison garden. Discover more about the film’s award winning production design here.

Billie Eilish And FINNEAS Appearances And Awards

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As the Academy Awards approach we round-up the latest awards and appearances by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, writers of the Oscar-nominated theme song for No Time To Die.

The pair have just received the award for Outstanding Original Song for a Drama/Documentary from the Society of Composers & Lyricists. This is the third annual awards, which recognises composers and songwriters in all visual media – from commercials to films.

“It was a lifelong dream of ours to write a Bond theme,” said Billie when she and Finneas attended the Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon in LA. The annual event is a key part of the Oscars build-up and is attended by all nominees.

Watch Billie on Late Night With Seth Meyers chatting about the Oscars, Daniel Craig and No Time To Die.

Find out more about the theme from No Time To Die here.

Bond Is Back In Cinemas

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Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as James Bond has returned to cinemas. No Time To Die has been nominated for five BAFTA’s and three Academy Awards and has returned to cinemas around the UK for a limited time. Don’t miss this opportunity to see it again on a big screen. Tickets are on sale now.

No Time To Die Academy Award Nominations

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No Time To Die has been nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects – the first time in over 40 years  that a Bond film has received such recognition. The other nominations are Best Sound and Best Original Song.
“It is over 40 years since James Bond got nominated for a Visual Effects Academy Award so it is a tribute to Daniel Craig, Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Mara Bryan and the 1000+ No Time To Die special and visual effects crews who produced such beautiful work,” said Special Effects Supervisor Chris Corbould and Visual Effects Supervisor Charlie Noble. “We applaud the filmmakers for holding out and allowing our work to be showcased as was intended, on the big screen.”
Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor were nominated for Best Sound. They said: “We are honoured that the Academy has nominated No Time To Die for Best Sound. Thank you to Cary, Michael and Barbara for giving us such an amazing opportunity, on what is a truly magnificent Bond film. Thanks also to the hugely talented sound team that collaborated with us.”
It is the third 007 film in a row to receive a nomination for Best Original Song for Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell.
“Words cannot describe how honoured and excited we are to have been nominated for an Academy Award for our song ‘No Time To Die’,” said Billie and Finneas. “It was a lifelong dream of ours to write a Bond theme, and one we never thought would ever come true. It’s completely unbelievable that we are here being recognised for this song, and this is a peak life experience for us as songwriters and artists. To be recognised today among these other incredible nominees is something we most certainly do not take for granted. Thank you to the Academy, from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you to Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson for allowing us this incredible opportunity, and to be part of Daniel Craig’s unparalleled legacy as James Bond. Thank you to Cary Joji Fukunaga, and last but not least, thank you to Hans Zimmer, Stephen Lipson and Johnny Marr for being an absolute joy to work with on this song.” 

The 2022 Academy Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday 27 March.

 

No Time To Die BAFTA Awards Nominations

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From Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli: On behalf of our fellow producers Daniel Craig, David Pope, Andrew Noakes, Chris Brigham and Gregg Wilson, we congratulate our director Cary Joji Fukunaga and our tremendous No Time To Die cast and crew on the BAFTA nomination for Outstanding British Film. We are honoured to be nominated alongside so many of our friends and colleagues who represent the excellence and diversity of the British Film Industry. We are thrilled to congratulate Lashana Lynch for the EE Rising Star nomination and the following nominees:

Tom Cross and Elliot Graham for Editing,
Linus Sandgren for Cinematography,
Chris Corbould, Charlie Noble, Mark Bakowski and Joel Green for Special Visual Effects,
James Harrison, Simon Hayes, Paul Massey, Oliver Tarney and Mark Taylor for Sound.

Inside The 007 Casting Process

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Debbie McWilliams is a leading casting director and has worked on every James Bond film since 1981’s For Your Eyes Only. Not only has she cast some of the biggest villains and leading actresses, she was an instrumental part of the casting process of bringing Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig to 007’s shoes. Debbie shares some of her insights from No Time To Die, on which she worked alongside her great-niece Jemima McWilliams.

How did you get started with the 007 film franchise?

I was very young and inexperienced when I started but nobody seemed to question that.  For Your Eyes Only was my first 007 film which was when Pierce Brosnan became known to everybody. I had cast Cassandra Harris in a role and it was shooting out in Corfu. Pierce was her then boyfriend, and he went out to stay with her. Various people, including Cubby Broccoli, said, ‘Oh, who’s he?’ and so he became a known quantity way back then. 

So what keeps you busiest when casting for a James Bond film?

One of the more hair-raising times was on Casino Royale. We started that without our leading lady and that’s never happened before. Eva Green won the day in the end but it was a bit tricky, the whole thing. We were absolutely down to the week before filming with Mads Mikkelsen as well. I had watched several of Mads Mikkelsen’s films and we were all out in Prague, in pre-production on Casino Royale, and I suddenly found out that he was right there filming something. So I grabbed hold of him, quite literally. I introduced him to Barbara Broccoli and she just said: ‘Right, get him to costume, get him to hair and makeup and then we’ll take him on the set.’ That’s exactly what we did. So he arrived as Le Chiffre and Martin Campbell went, ‘Oh, hi. You must be Le Chiffre’ and that was that.

Wow. It must be a thrill to help elevate people and put them in the limelight?

Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s been my greatest pleasure, really. Not from any sort of egotistical point of view but it’s just lovely if you see great talent in somebody and you bring them to the attention of the wider public then because I think they deserve it. That’s been a real treat for me. I’m allowed to go pretty much anywhere to find the right people. Paris has been a great source, particularly for our leading ladies and so I’ve cast there many times. Germany, Denmark and Sweden and much further afield like Mexico and Chile – the producers have always been fantastic about giving me free rein to go wherever I felt I needed to go.

Obviously you’ve auditioned lots of people. So what makes a great audition for the 007 film franchise?

That’s the impossible question to answer. They’ve either got it or they haven’t. It’s just as simple as that. Having the confidence of knowing who you are. Like David Denzik, for instance. The part of Valdo Obruchev was written initially as a Cuban male. David came in and Cary really, really liked him too. David went off and learnt a Cuban accent and when he came back some while later, to meet everybody at Pinewood, the role had changed nationalities but David said “I’ve learned this Cuban accent, at least let me do it.” He did this whole scene in a Cuban accent, and we didn’t need him to at all, but he just went, “Well, I’m going to do it. And that’s that!” So needless to say, he got the part. He just was so natural with everybody. 

When did you come on board for No Time To Die?

When Cary came on board there was almost no overlap in plot or cast or anything to what had gone before so it was a completely new thing. You have to get a good nucleus of a team together and a good blend of personalities. You have to know that you’re going to get on with somebody and there can’t be anybody who’s too ridiculously ‘starry’ or otherwise it’s just not going to work. It is very much a team effort and everyone has to pull their weight. Then there’s a mixture of looking at the script and looking at availability. For the Nomi role, for instance, we met many actresses. It boiled down to three people in the end, although Lashana Lynch was not amongst those three because she was never available to be met. She was doing a play somewhere and we kept circling back round to her. Eventually, I managed to grab her. Because it’s such a physical part, she had to go through a stunt assessment so that had to take place and then the hard work began, they really put her through it. I thought she did marvelously. The other major challenges in casting are a bit obvious, really. It’s the baddie and the leading lady. There were three leading ladies in this one but we obviously already had Léa Seydoux. Ana de Armas was very much a Cary and Daniel Craig choice because Daniel had just worked with her in Knives Out and really loved her and the part just suited her down to the ground. I’m glad that the films, within the Daniel Craig era, have become more serious and a thought-provoking experience – a reflection of what’s going on in society. 

Are there any performances that have surprised you over the years or anyone who has surpassed your expectations?

Daniel Craig, I guess surpassed my expectations. He turned out alright didn’t he (laughs). He’s been brilliant.  I’ve always been a huge fan of Jeffrey Wright, he was great for the role of Felix. Similarly, Naomie Harris was just perfect for Moneypenny. Ben Whishaw has been a delight and that was definitely a Sam Mendes choice and that was unusual to cast somebody so much younger to play Q. But it works brilliantly. I think in the new tech age, it would make so much more sense that it’s a young guy. I think he’s been fantastic.

Comedian Hugh Dennis popped up in No Time To Die which people seem a little bit surprised by. So how did that come about?

Well, I knew Hugh anyway and obviously knowing that Phoebe Waller-Bridge liked him so much as well helped. It’s just always fun to have somebody slightly unexpected. There’s hardly an actor in the world who’s going to turn down a part in a James Bond film and it was a fun little part. I think he was very happy to do it. So it was a perfect combination of him being great, I like him, Phoebe Waller-Bridge liked him. Everybody else liked him. So why not?

You work alongside your great niece Jemima McWilliams now in casting?

Yes, Jemima’s my great niece. She used to come and help out in the holidays with her four sisters. She went off to university, worked in a theatrical agency for years and at Sony for a few years. Then she asked if she could come back and work with me again for a bit, so she did and never went away. I have to say it has been an absolute boon because she’s a genius and she can do all sorts of stuff with technology. We film all the auditions now and upload them to be viewed online. Also, she’s brilliant at coming up with new ideas. We’re a good combo and that’s so important.

What is it like working with Daniel Craig? Does he like to help in the casting of particular roles?

Daniel’s always interested to know who is being considered. On No Time To Die, he had a say in who was going to play his daughter. We did a very exhaustive search for her. We had three young girls come out to Pinewood Studios and he met each one individually and interacted with them to see who he felt was going to be the best. Young Lisa-Dorah Sonnet, she was just extraordinary and she was like a pro. I can’t really describe it any other way. She would just go on the set and she knew who everybody was, she knew what they did. She was five for goodness sake and you couldn’t keep her away. Nothing distracted her. That was the amazing thing. She wasn’t given very much dialogue to do but her eye contact was always absolutely spot on. Daniel felt she was a great choice too. Daniel is always there and he contributed in lots of different ways. He was very much part of the fabric of the whole process. 

You are involved in the casting for the lead role? How is that process? 

Yes, I am very much involved because I have to be aware of who’s around and who’s available. When Pierce couldn’t take on Bond due to Remington Steele, it was very unfortunate.  Pierce had a contract and they were going to release him from Remington Steele but on the very last day, they said no.  The casting of Daniel Craig was very unpopular in the press at the time. We did a huge search prior to casting him, including some very well-known actors. Thank goodness that Barbara Broccoli absolutely stood her ground on Daniel. He wasn’t an obvious choice but Barbara was his champion from the word go.

There will be a lot of interest in this casting process, so what does it entail?

Well, while a lot of people I meet would like to be James Bond, the first requirement is that you have to be a brilliant actor, first and foremost. It’s as simple as that. Once we have a shortlist they will be invited to meet. The process then normally involves a screentest. Historically, what we’ve always done is give them a scene from a previous film. I never use the script that’s going to be shot. The last time we did it, we did screen test quite a few people. It is a huge decision to pick someone as James Bond and it’s not one that can be taken lightly because there’s so much riding on it. It’s extraordinary how it changes when they’re in the suit and with the hair cut being put through the paces and all the rest of it. The biggest example to me, is not from this franchise, but the Superman films which is where I cut my teeth. Christopher Reeve just seemed like a totally regular guy when he was just sitting there in the room but put the Superman suit on and he turned into something else entirely. The same thing happens with Bond. You get the clobber on and you turn into something and that’s the magic. It requires an ability to act. The ability to be physical. The end result is that you have to be the full package. 

Have you already started looking for the next James Bond?

No, not at all, No Time To Die is still playing in theatres and being released on DVD around the world – let’s enjoy this moment before moving on. 

How To Train Like James Bond

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47-year-old professional trainer Simon Waterson started working with the Bond franchise back in 1999 as Pierce Brosnan’s trainer on The World Is Not Enough (1999) before helping Daniel Craig get into shape for the role of 007 in Casino Royale (2006). Since then he’s worked with him on Quantum Of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and most recently No Time To Die (2020). Waterson joined the Royal Naval Commandos when he was 16, serving as a member of the 845 Naval Air Squadron – an elite special forces unit – for seven years before taking on a very different Naval Commander…

When did you first meet Daniel Craig?
It was before Casino Royale started filming. I flew to Washington to meet Daniel who was working on a different film. I knocked on his trailer door and he answered holding a bacon sandwich and smoking a cigarette and he was like, ‘Oh no’ and I said ‘Oh yes, the process is starting my friend’. We came up with a plan of what aesthetic look we wanted for him – his body shape and the way Bond moves – all the things that go along with the character. Daniel is very meticulous and he knew the way he wanted to portray Bond and how he wanted to evolve the character. He wasn’t looking at it as one movie, he was already looking beyond that and how the character would evolve over a series of films.

How do you prepare Daniel for filming?
I normally get the script and spend some time breaking down the different elements especially if they are athletic – sprinting, going through walls – like you see in Casino Royale’s opening sequence, just so I know the movement and speed they are going to require. Then I’ll work on those elements with Daniel. He always says to me that his physique needs to represent the nature of his job, so that he looks capable and he keeps himself in top trim. Then he has the speed, the reaction, the strength and the agility. He shouldn’t look like a body builder, he’s a product of the nature of his job. His athleticism has developed so he is that efficient at the job.

Is he up for training or do you need to give him a push?
The start is always the hardest. The first few months are tough but then when you start to see the fruits of your labour it becomes a lot easier and it becomes more about tweaking and maintaining and having specific movements to represent what’s in the script. For example, if he needs to jump over a balustrade then we practice that stunt so that it gets easier and easier. The fitter you get the easier it gets. When we go into production we go into a maintenance phase. Like any athlete there’s a pre-season which in the film world is pre-production and then you have the season which in our world is filming and then, like any athlete, there will be a post-season which is post-production.

What makes up his routine – presumably a combination of weights and cardio?
It’s a combination of all those things. The key word is relevance. I don’t want to waste time on doing things that aren’t relevant. If there are huge sprint scenes in the film there’s no point Daniel sitting on a bike. Everything is about relevance to the movie.

When filming No Time To Die Daniel injured his ankle, how did you deal with that?
You never want an injury to happen and it’s a setback but it’s manageable and you work around it. In the world of action movies there are always going to be a few niggles, you are working extremely hard and you don’t get an afternoon off, it’s six days a week, six in the morning till ten at night. It’s inevitable that you are going to get some knocks, but it’s how you react to that. If you catastrophise the situation then you’re going to go into a bad place. Mentally you need to keep yourself in a good place. With injuries it’s all about looking at the long term health, so you do the right exercises and the right rehabilitation to get it fixed properly.

How important is diet?
The nutrition side of things is the key. I like to have a good eye across that. I use a lot of anti-inflammatory protocols. The nutrition is tailored towards the script and schedule. For high octane, athletic days, where there’s lots of stunts and running around then the calories and the macros (macronutrients) are different to a sedentary dialogue day. There’s no crazy diets, nothing is eliminated. We’re looking for maximum amount of energy, good hydration and a constant flow of eating throughout the day. During shooting Daniel has six meals a day.

What’s a typical day on set like?
It depends on the day of course, no one day is like another. But he comes in early and if it’s an action day we have half an hour of activation, we’re preparing the body to work at a high level for the day. We will do a mixture of dynamic exercise with a stretch routine to make sure the body is warmed up. Then he will go back to the trailer and get ready for filming while I go off and make sure breakfast is ready. We’ll use lots of things like turmeric root juice which is a natural anti-inflammatory along with probiotic shots. Then it’s really being on-hand for his snacks and meals and then in the evening we’ll do a bigger workout back in the gym and work on some conditioning. But saying that, we’ll judge it on the day. If it looks like he just needs to eat and sleep then we’ll do that rather than training.

How does working on set and on location differ?
Going on location is great from a fitness point of view. Working in Matera on No Time To Die was exhausting just because getting to the gym there were so many stairs to climb. If you go to a hot climate it’s easier to go swimming or paddle boarding so you can diversify and make it a bit more interesting. Fitness doesn’t have to be prescribed, it should feel like a hobby. You need to have escapism, it’s not work, it’s leisure time, so we just put some music on and enjoy it.

Intelligent Fitness by Simon Waterson is available to buy at 007Store.

Photography: Greg Williams

Being James Bond Retrospective

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Being James Bond is available to watch now on YouTube. Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year tenure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage spanning from Casino Royale to No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
“A lot of people here have worked on five pictures with me,” Craig noted during the conversation with the films’ producers in Being James Bond. “…I’ve loved every single second of these movies, and especially this one because I’ve got up every morning and I’ve had the chance to work with you guys, and that has been one of the greatest honours of my life.”

From The Make-Up Chair: Building A Bond Villain

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From stunt doubles’ wigs to Safin’s prosthetics, Daniel Phillips is the man responsible for defining the look of each character in No Time To Die. It was the first Bond film for the Oscar and BAFTA nominated hair & make-up artist, and he shares his story with us here.

How did your career get started in the film business?

I knew I always wanted to work in film. I started off as a hairstylist through a family connection.  Then I trained as a graphic artist and I started designing interiors for luxury yachts. I loved Hammer House of Horror films as a child and I remember writing to the studio enquring, ‘How does one become a make-up person in film’? Eventually, I applied for a place at the London College of Fashion for a course on media, film, hair and make-up.  My first job was at the BBC. They were looking to take men into the industry because then (the late ‘80s) it tended to be women in the make-up department in television.  Men tended to do make-up in films. I was one of three guys in a department of 250 females at the BBC in London. I worked on lots of period dramas. I had the most wonderful time at the BBC and I stayed there for about eight years and then went freelance. I started working on very small, independent movies and worked my way up over the years. Even now, I love doing independent movies, because that’s where I came from. When you get onto a big scale movie, you tend to just become a number – but I would say that’s what’s different with a Bond film, because it’s a real family affair. Everybody was treated so well. It’s probably the only big budget film that I’ve worked on where the Producers, Director, everybody just behaved in such a wonderful manner that you kind of fit.

How did you come about working on No Time To Die?

I’ve always watched the Bonds since I was a little kid and never imagined I would ever work on one. I worked with Cary eight years ago on Jane Eyre which was Cary’s first English period film. But I still had to go through the whole interview stage and went to meet Michael, Barbara and Cary. I had a jolly nice catch up with Cary at Pinewood and I left saying, ‘Well, lovely to see you. If it comes my way, I’ll be thrilled obviously.’ And I remember the day I got the call I was shooting a movie and it was the best feeling in the world. It doesn’t get any better than a Bond movie.

How did you prepare for shooting?

My prep time was quite long – in total, it must have been about three months. But I used that time organising stunt doubles, organising wigs, organising fittings. I would create mood boards and looks for various actors. Often you wouldn’t see your actors till a couple of weeks before, sometimes the week before, if you’re very lucky. So I would be going to production meetings, coming up with concept drawings, concept sketches. You’d meet all the other departments, meet the production designers, costume designers, because everything’s got to gel together. Also by then, we knew we had this character, Safin – Rami’s character; so that took a lot of time to prep and decide which way we were going with that. I also started getting my team together. I hooked up with Barry Gower, Barry is a prosthetics guy and we worked together on Rami’s look which took quite a long time to pin down because we were consulting with Rami who was off on another job in America. You’ve got to please the Director and the Producers and then you’ve got to come up with various concept sketches so it’s quite a long process. Of all the characters in No Time To Die, Rami’s character is the one that we had to really nail down and get right.

Where did Safin’s look come from?

We knew that he needed to have a toxic poisoning skin condition so we researched lots of conditions and did a lot of mood boards and showed Cary. We did a mould of Rami’s face and then spent weeks sculpting it and getting the skin textures right. Rami was filming Mr. Robot at the time and he had his hair shaved quite short so we had to wig him and we had to age him slightly. So I did that with the hair and all the skin marks and he had some wrinkles and some eye bags as well. And the wig has got the grey flecks through as well, which you can never achieve fully unless you put on a wig, because it just doesn’t work. Funnily enough, when we were doing the make-up, it didn’t really come alive until the whole look with the wig was put on and it all came together. That’s when you see the full character, which goes to show that wigs are just as important as make-up in terms of creating that character. And I always tell my team, the more important thing for me, is the hair and the wigs because that can make and break a look. Even if you’ve got great make-up, if you’ve got a bad wig on, that’s all you’re going to notice.

How long did it take to put on Rami’s prosthetics?
I’ve worked on prosthetics where they can take three or four hours, but this was pretty quick. I would prep the skin and hair and then Barry (and Patt Foad his assistant) would put the prosthetics on. And that would take about an hour and fifteen minutes to put the whole face on. Then Rami would come over to me, I would put the wig on and start blending the back of the wig into his own hair at the nape and fixing the hairline. And then as I’m doing that, they will be colouring up all the pieces. We kind of got it down to about an hour and a half in the end. That’s quite quick, really for full face make-up, neck and hands as well. But we had to be quick just because we were told we had to be quick. The filming days are long so you can’t have an actor coming in at silly o’clock in the morning, spending hours and hours in prosthetics, then a whole day’s shooting. And you have to remember they’ve got to take the prosthetics off at the end of the day as well.

How do you go about deciding someone like Nomi’s (Lashana Lynch) look?
So I probably did about four or five make-up tests on her, took pictures, sent them off to Cary. He called me back and said, ‘Now with Lashana, I’m thinking Nubian princess’. So once we decided we were going to go that way then we made a wig and knotted it into her hair. But then my job is to work out the practicalities of that. You’ve got this woman at the beginning, this agent who’s in this long braided, quite elaborate wig, but then later she’s coming down cables and flying through buildings and doing somersaults, you think ‘Well, that’s not gonna work’. I remember going up to Barbara saying ‘Barbara, we’ve got this wig on Lashana. And as great as it is, I just can’t see how this would sort of work in the story realistically, without it looking comical. You know, scaling down a building’. Barbara said, ‘Tell Cary that this is how you see it and what you think is right’. And Cary’s great, you know, he went with it. The short hair works well, I think it’s right for her. It’s quite androgynous as well which I quite like, it’s quite a powerful look. That’s her own hair. We coiled it each day into little twists, little bumps and twists. Just to give it a shape and a style, basically.

Were you involved in designing Primo’s eye? 
Barry and I designed that. We did the concepts and sent them onto the studio to look at. And then a different company made the bionic eye. It’s a Scleral Lens so it goes over the whole eye. There’s also an eyeball that was made for the fight sequence where the eyeball falls down the steps. But from my part, it’s a Scleral Lens which covers up the whole eye. And it’s based on the camera of an iPhone.

What’s your lasting memory of No Time To Die?
What made it the dream job is that you’ve got a production that are like a family that really looks after us. I’m travelling to the most incredible places and watching the incredible stunts of Range Rovers rolling somersaults. I remember standing in Scotland watching the car chase with helicopters flying overheard. And I’m standing there looking at all these cars flying about and I’m thinking to myself ‘This is what filmmaking is about. This is why I got into this’. And there are very few moments like that on a film set.

 

The Sound Of No Time To Die

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Discover what goes in to creating the sound of No Time To Die in this exclusive interview with Simon Hayes, Production Sound Mixer, Oliver Tarney, Supervising Sound Editor and Paul Massey Re-Recording Mixer.