to ARTICLESINTERVIEW ABOUT BOND (I don't remember the source)
"I'm contracted for two more [Bond films], and that's enough. That's how I feel right now, but never say never. God knows I may welcome the work."
You had some big shoes to fill when you signed on to play Bond in Goldeneye. Now, with a huge worldwide hit to your credit, how do you feel about your place in franchise history?
Well, it seems to be on a roll, and the expectations are high for the next one. I think there's a whole generation which has now found James Bond. There's young children out there who love James Bond, whose dads say, "He's not James Bond--Connery is James Bond!" And the kid goes away saying, "No, he's James Bond, he's my James Bond." So there's that wonderful sense of accomplishment.
How many more times will you play 007?
I'm contracted for two more, and that's enough. That's how I feel right now, but never say never. God knows I may welcome the work. I'm doing eighteen and nineteen with an option for a fourth.
Have people treated you differently since you've become James Bond?
Yes, they become deferential. They become enamored by the fact that I'm who I am, that I'm in their shop or in their restaurant, probably like Sean [Connery]. The character is so loved, it doesn't matter who I am. The success of the character makes people happy, and that consequently makes me happy. Because I'm an entertainer. The job is to turn people on, whether it's on the stage or a TV set or a movie set.
And I hear the material perks of playing Bond aren't bad, either.
You get free gifts, like cars. Well, it wasn't really free--I worked for it! BMW gave me the 850 CI, and they bloody well should. I did enough work for them! When I promoted [Goldeneye], I went to fifteen different countries and every place I went, I had to pose with the Beemer for the promotion. That's a lot of promotion! The 850 is a classic, absolutely awesome car. It's my car now, I love it.
What can you tell us about the new Bond flick?
It's called Bond number eighteen now--that's what's on the script!
No secret there. Anything else?
Well, we have a location that has never had a motion picture filmed in that country before. I can't tell you anything about it, I'm not allowed to. The script is getting tighter and tighter. There are two action sequences in it that are really dynamite. They read well. Roger Spottiswoode is directing and [Supercop's] Michelle Keoh is in it. She's from Hong Kong, a beautiful lady, obviously. She's an amazing martial artist; she's the female Jackie Chan. She is Supercop. Thank God she's on my side--I think.
Ah-ha! There's a bit of the plot in there! She's not actually on your side, is she?
Sh, sh, ssshhh. I'm not supposed to say. The location is a secret, too. It's not going to come from my lips! I've already said too much.
As 007, you're handy with lots of cutting-edge technology. What about real life? Do you ever use the Internet?
I've just started. I'm absolutely illiterate with these things, but I'm learning. I tried getting on America Online the other day. I just got plugged in, but I practically threw the machine through the window. I sat there for hours trying to get on. You have to log on about nine o'clock in the morning and just stay on again. I have to switch to something else.
What about post-Bond 18 plans?
I have that little production company, Irish Dream Time, and projects with United Artists, such as the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. I like that one. It's Scottish, and I love Steve McQueen. And I don't think I'm treading on hallowed ground; whereas Brosnan in The Getaway might be a little much. If you look at the movie, it's dated in the sixties, but the essence of the story is great. We have a writer working on that now. There's another story that's been bandying about in my head for a long time now. It's called Mr. Softy, and it's about a fifty-year-old teddy bear. I've got Anne Spielberg, who wrote Big, writing it. It's kind of semi-autobiographical, really. It's a family film, the story of a father and son, about a little boy and the mother he has lost, and the teddy bear that's going through their lives. They have adventures, and the son grows up, and the teddy bear is magical and a symbol. The teddy bear has its own adventures, and . . . I don't want to tell more. It's quite close to my heart, and I would like to see this come to fruition.
Speaking of your production company, can you tell us anything else about The Nephew?
Yes. Hill Harper is "the nephew." He was in Spike Lee's Get on the Bus, and it concerns the father on an island in Ireland, played by Donal McCann. He plays this father who is kind of emotionally closed-down, and he gets a letter in the post and finds out his sister has passed away. He finds out that he has a nephew. He goes to the ferry to meet him, and off the ferry steps this young black kid, seventeen years of age, an African-American. His mom was married to an African-American. It's a relationship between the father and the young boy. The boy meets a girl on the island and falls in love, and I'm the father of the girl. There's secrets and grudges between these two men, the lies. It's a small film, it's a great cast; Sinead Cusack is in it. We won't take it to Cannes, but maybe to the Toronto Film Festival.
You've come a long way since Remington Steele, which is viewed as your training ground for playing Bond. How did that show help prepare you for movie stardom?
If it weren't for Remington Steele, I wouldn't be here. It wasn't necessarily a training ground, but who I was there, and how I looked, how I moved--no one else was doing that on TV. I didn't go into it with [Bond] in mind, but it may have set the groundwork for people thinking of me as that. It set up the audience, yes it did.
You were all set to take over the Bond franchise back in the mid-eighties, but due to your TV commitments, it didn't happen. How do you feel about all that lost time?
I'm glad it didn't happen back in 1986. I wasn't ready for it. As painful as it was then, I wasn't ready. I felt secure this time--if you can ever feel secure with a role like Bond.
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