The announcement was long in the making. The rumors began last summer and have gotten louder and louder ever since and today, on a cool breezy day in London, it became official: 25 year old American actor Michael Reese Meyers has been cast as the new James Bond. Director Christopher Nolan, famous for Mission: Impossible, Batman Begins, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight Returns, is helming, and he came up with the "Bond Begins" origin story concept to reboot the franchise and tell the story of a young 007 and how he came to be the man we know him as today. MGM's financial woes along with the reluctance of the franchise's longtime producers Michael and Barbara Broccoli to cast an American as the iconic British spy were the main causes for the delayed decision announcement. Nolan, his wife and co-producer on the film Emma, the Broccoli's, and Meyers were all on hand this morning in London for the press conference, which was preceded by the traditional boat ride to the podium with the new actor and followed by a lengthy photo shoot on the adjacent lawn, overlooking the famous Thames River. Here's some excerpts from the press conference.
Nolan: "Today is a long day coming. It's been quite a journey since that rainy day back in the spring of 2009 when I was on the phone with Mr. Broccoli expressing to him my desire to reboot the 007 franchise and tell the origin story of this iconic character. They gave me their blessing and almost immediately talk began of who the actor should be to portray him. Instantly we rattled off 14 or 15 names of English and Irish actors we felt had the gravitas, intensity, physicality, and charm and looks to pull this off. I narrowed down my list of actors to 10. All of whom had to be under 30 years old and well versed in knowledge of the Bond franchise and the character himself. One of my 10 on this list was not of European decent. Mr. Broccoli felt at some point, that person would eventually be discounted, but as each audition occured, I found myself exing another Brit or Irishman off the list, and that bloody Yank kept sticking around. Soon it became apparent to me who our Bond needed to be, but I was worried, the Broccolis wouldn't approve. They at first were reluctant to go forward with my idea, but I put my foot down and said this, either this young man is Bond, or I am off the project. A week later MGM filed for bankruptcy. Soon none of us were sure if this film would even get made in a timely manor and I remember countless phone calls consoling my choice for Bond telling him, It's gonna happen, It's gonna happen. Finally, yesterday, I got to make one of the best phone calls of my life. To tell an actor I am extremely fond of, excited to see work, and privileged to now get the honor to work with, that you are going to fulfill your childhood dream and be Bond. Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you, the sixth actor to portray James Bond 007, the very talented, Michael Reese Meyers!"
Meyers: "Wow. What a day. What a moment. I been dreaming about this for a long time. First let me say that this man right here is a heck of a filmmaker. He was the one that fought for me to get this part when no one else wanted me to do it. He saw in me the Bond he wanted to make. I honestly couldn't believe my ears when my agent informed me last year they were going to reboot the Bond franchise and I was one of the actors they were considering playing the young Bond and I still can't really wrap my head around the fact that I am now going to play him. I am sure it will sink in sooner or later. I am beyond excited right now. I am bursting, I don't know if it is visible or not. But all I know is I will give this role everything I have. It's the only way I know how to act, but I cannot express in words what Bond means to me. I grew up with these films. Each film that came out, me and my father would see every single one in the theater. It was our little tradition. He was a fanatic of Bond and taught me everything I know about him. That's where the fascination started. Now I have to make him proud and do good, or he will disown me, haha. Even as Americans, we could relate to everything the Bond films, with all their obvious English culture and references, were saying and showing. I know there's alot of haters and nay sayers and doubters out there, wondering if I can do this. The truth is not only do I know I can, I know I will. I follow a long line of great Bonds. Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and my personal favorite, Pierce Brosnan. I plan to bring my own aspect to it, and hopefully, people will enjoy the films we make and our take on the character. Thank you all for being here today on this very special special day.
Q: Mr. Nolan, what was it about Michael that made you certain he was your Bond?
Nolan: He is Bond. He oozes charm, charisma, he loves women, dressing well, he has intensity, rage, mystery, vulnerability, good looks, intelligence, depth, and most importantly, he can do the accent. That was the biggest concern of everyone, but his English was impeccible. He did a little film back in 2002, his first film I believe, with Keira Knightley called Bend It Like Beckham, where he played an English soccer coach and his accent in that film was flawless as well. And he is 20 times the actor he is now than he was then and from the auditions his accent was absolutely spot on, so from then on I had no worries. And another thing is he loves loves loves this franchise. And not just from a fanboy point of view, but from a real fanatic expertise. He has an encylcopedic knowledge of the character, the films. He references plot points from For Your Eyes Only, lines from Goldfinger or The World Is Not Enough, small villains from Live and Let Die or License to Kill. He knows each title song word for word. He was born to play this part. He understands this franchise and mainly this character far more and far deeper than any of the other actors we considered ever could.
Q: Mr. Meyers, what was it about portraying Bond, especially this variation of a younger Bond, that interested you?Meyers: I can relate to him and his life. Me and Chris talked alot about his childhood, what happened to his parents, how he grew up, how he gets his 00 license, all these things that really really intrigued me. I remember as a kid watching those old Young Bond cartoons on cable. We are exploring all that, the parents death in the skiing accident, military school, why he treats women the way he does, all of that. In a real world way. We are learning about him in a dramatic and emotional way we have never seen the character tackled before. This Bond has alot of anger and rage and confusion in him and he needs to get away, he needs to find some type of meaning in his life, some peace. Some solace, hence the title. This job, in some strange psychotic, theraputic way, gives him that, that release. If he wasn't shooting bad guys I feel he'd be in a gang or a street thug shooting other thugs on the south side of London. He is that lost and that angry. He needs a purpose to vent his anger and this job gives him that and he has to learn to control it and eventually let it go. It's alot like what Alec Trevelyan said in GoldenEye, how MI6 is known for taking maladjusted young men and giving them a gun in one hand and a martini in the other, all so they can utilize them in the most brutal ways and still make them feel sophisticated at the same time.
Q: Mr. Nolan, can you go a little more into the meaning of the title, Quantum of Solace?
Nolan: Well yes, just as Michael said, at this point in his life he needs some peace of mind and that's essentially exactly what the title means. Quantum means quotient, or amount, or a piece, a portion, an unquantifiable measure of something. And solace obviously means peace, happiness. A sense of fulfilment or satisfaction. It is one of the last remaining original Ian Fleming novel titles left and we felt it was only fitting we use it, especially since it applies to what James is going through at this point in his life.
Q: Mr. Meyers, are you concerned at all about the "Bond curse" or being type cast afterwards? Many actors careers, other than Connery, weren't as successful after the Bond films...
Meyers: No, honestly, and me and Chris talked about this, I don't think that will happen to me since most of those guys were unknown before Bond and so that's all they were famous for. With me, people for the most part know who I am already, in fact this is the first time I think a big name, known actor was cast as Bond. So instead, I think it may be hard for people to forget me the actor, me as my other characters, me from The Best Tears, and just see me as Bond. But hopefully with the British accent and everything else going on, they will be able to just see James on the screen, not Michael Reese Meyers. Besides, my roles I love to choose, involve me wearing lots of different hair and make up and looks, so I hardly look like myself on screen anyway, so it will never be that guy from 007, it will be the character. That's always been my goal, for people to see my character up there on that screen, not me.
Q: Chris, with everything going on with MGM, now that you have a Bond, when will you assemble the rest of the cast, the crew, finish the script, and start shooting, or is all that still a far way off?
Nolan: The script is done. Will it be tweaked, sure. But it is mostly set in what we want it to be. Michael has seen it, read it, given us his notes. He's had alot of input, which is something he wanted early on. The crew, mainly the second unit and stunt people are all the same crew the Bond films have used since 1995 so everything there is ready to go. EON and Pinewood studios are all ready to go. We are just waiting for MGM to get their situation sorted out so we can get the funding and start shooting in the fall. Obviously the cast is not there yet. We are in the process of that now and we can move forward much more aggressively this summer with that, now that Michael is officially on board. Right now we are looking at alot of women to play the main Bond girl, Meridian. As well as another girl to play the other.
Q: Will Judi Dench be back as M?
Nolan: Yes. She has already signed on.
Meyers: I like the name of one of the Bond girls. It's classic. Ivanna Bendova. But you pronounce the v in Ivanna like a W. Haha. I thought that was pretty funny. But Meridian is the main one, the one that changed James forever, that shapes the way he treats women for the rest of his life. We gotta get a good one to play her. She needs class, beauty, intelligence, complexity, vulnerability, and most of all, elegance, which is hard to find.
Nolan: We are looking at alot of actresses right now for her, but we haven't found one yet. By the end of this summer we hope to have all the Bond girls cast, the villain cast, the whole supporting cast in line, and to start shooting in September for a June 2011 release. That's the plan.
Q: Michael, you already mentioned Pierce as your favorite 007, what are some of your favorite Bond films, Bond moments, Bond girls, villains?
Meyers: Wow, too many to mention. The World Is Not Enough is my all time favorite Bond film. GoldenEye is a close second. I'm also a fan of the older films as well obviously. They had a very Hitchcock feel and look to them. I loved Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough as well as Gary Oldman's Renard, the man who feels no pain. Brosnan gave a great performance in that film as well. 006 in GoldenEye of course. The Russian hacker in GoldenEye was a great Bond girl. Benicio Del Toro was a good henchman to Robert Davi in License to Kill. But I promise we got some cool villains and henchmen and girls in Quantum as well. As far as favorite moments, back to The World Is Not Enough again, when Q retires and says to James, "I've always tried to teach you two things. Never let them see you bleed, and always have an escape plan". I get choked up everytime I watch that and even just remembering it now. I miss Desmend. The great Desmend Llewelyn. I grew up watching him. I wish I could have met him.
Q: Will John Cleese be back as R or as Q or will there be a recast of Q?
Nolan: The writers, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and Jonathan and I, have decided that Q will not be in this film. No gadgets in this one. In our timeline, this predates Bond meeting Q.
Q: What about Moneypenny?
Nolan: Yes Moneypenny will be in the film.
Q: Michael, you have never really done a role as physical as this. How do you plan to approach the physical aspect of it all, as far as the training, gun shooting, running, fighting, driving, etc.?
Meyers: I can't wait. I mean, none of it is completely new to me, I've just never had to do it all for one role. I've shot guns in many films. Miracle At. Anna I went through soldier boot camp. Shot guns. For 3:10 to Yuma I had to learn how to ride horses and shoot guns all over again, older revolvers. I had to gain 25 lbs. of muscle for Malibu's Most Wanted and then gain 20 lbs. of muscle for my upcoming boxing film The Fighter. I went through 6 months total of boxing training. I feel that experience will help me alot with training for this film. Me and Chris already discussed what's going to be done. I'm going to have to gun train, martial arts train, espionage train, work on my English accent, drive stunt cars, you name it. But I'm up for it man. I can't wait.
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