Monday, December 29, 2008

Daniel Craig

• He's most familiar to the public for being the latest incarnation of super-spy James Bond, but English actor Daniel Craig is far more than that. His newest film is “Defiance,” set during World War II as the Jews of Eastern Europe are being massacred by the thousands. He was interviewed by MoviesOnline.

Q: I know the grandchildren came on the set of this film. Did talking to people who actually knew (your character) help inform your role in this film?

A: Very much. It's sort of difficult because your mind is full of expectations when meeting a family member, a son, a daughter, because you sort of feel that there will be an immediate connection to what you're doing and that's not the reality of it though. What did strike me about them very much and what was really very pleasant is that you're kind of awkward when you meet someone like that. You're like, “Hi. It's lovely to see you in Lithuania. It's very nice over here.” [laughs] There's no sort of starting point for the conversation and so they all sat down.

I kind of sat them all down and I'm in uniform and working and it's like, “It's great to see you.” I went, “Vodka? Vodka? Vodka?” I kind of wandered off and found the caterer and I said, “Have you got any vodka?” And, of course they did because we were in Lithuania, for breakfast over the cornflakes.

They cracked it and I sort of slowly passed this around and we all sort of toasted and they kind of came out of their shells and got very loaded and had to be told to leave because they were making so much noise. We connected and they're full of life. They're full of energy. They're a big family. They're a strong New York family. You kind of go, “Good. That's what this is about.”

The heart of this movie is my relationship with Liev [Schreiber] and Jamie [Bell] and the fact that we're a family unit and how we then make that into a bigger family unit. So, I kind of felt good about it.

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