New Bond girl, Ukrainian Olga Kurylenko Q&A

"Well in the beginning they come as opponents... Daniel Craig is my favourite Bond... I`m going to be doing a lot of physical work... Everything hurts after that... I`ve tried a few weapons..."

Born in the Ukraine in 1979, Olga Kurylenko moved to Paris when she was 16 to pursue a career as a model and actress. Roles in Paris Je T`Aime, Le Serpent and videogame adaptation Hitman followed, leading to the part of Bond girl Camille in Quantum of Solace. IGN caught up with her on the film`s set last week to discuss weapons, stunts and the side effects of taking on such an iconic role.

Tell us a little bit about Camille.

Olga Kurylenko: She is a strong, feisty, independent woman. She is out there on her mission, driven by revenge.

How deep is her relationship with Bond?

Kurylenko: Well in the beginning they come as opponents, but at a certain point they have to collaborate. They go through a lot of things together.

How did you get the role?

Kurylenko: First I went for general casting in Paris, then I got invited for an audition in London, then I did the final audition with Daniel [Craig]. I just worked very hard. I worked non-stop with an accent coach because I have to speak with a South American accent, as she`s from Bolivia.

How has your life changed since landing this part?

Kurylenko: It has changed a lot. Overnight I became of interest to people, especially the press. I imagined that would happen because it`s a big movie, but you don`t really realise to what point. At the same time what disappointed me was there were quite a few lies in the press. I don`t know why people do that. I guess because they can`t get anything on me because nobody knows me, so I guess they just made up stuff.

What did you do when you heard you had the part?

Kurylenko: I was already at a dinner because it was Christmas Eve, so it was the best Christmas present.

Why did you want to be a Bond girl?

Kurylenko: Who doesn`t want to be a Bond girl? Doing Bond is an amazing experience – I`ve seen other Bond movies and I liked them. I loved the last one, and Daniel Craig is my favourite Bond. I was looking forward to participating – it`s got a great plot, great action, and they choose people really carefully. Now that I`ve got here I see that there`s a lot of preparation goes into it and it`s like a family. It`s an amazing experience.

Are you worried about being stereotyped as a Bond girl?

Kurylenko: I`m not worried about that because people that are around me professionally believe in me. And I have so many movie directors that are waiting in line to take me for their movies that have nothing to do with stereotypes – four of them are independent movies, and those are the ones I`m planning to do after this movie.

Would you have been happy playing a Bond girl in one of the older films?

Kurylenko: Yes, why not? I think some of them are pretty funny, but I`m just discovering them right now. I got this box of all the DVDs because I haven`t seen those from the 1960s.

In your opinion, what makes the perfect Bond girl?

Kurylenko: A Bond girl must be a strong and independent woman, but at the same time charming and sensual. Those opposite qualities combined together make her interesting. She must be strong but at the same time feminine.

So how physical is your role?

Kurylenko: I`m going to be doing a lot of physical work – there`s so much action involved. I haven`t had such heavy training for any other movie before. I`m training non-stop from the morning to the evening. I`m learning a lot of new things that I didn`t know how to do before.

What kind of skills have you learned?

Kurylenko: I do fighting, stunts for fight scenes, I do body-flight, which is very physical – everything hurts after that. You come out of the tunnel and your whole body hurts. Work with weapons, car driving – it`s a real action movie.

What weapons are you using?

Kurylenko: I`ve tried a few, but I hadn`t tried an automatic machine-gun before and that`s pretty impressive. But mainly guns.

Interview by Chris Tilly, IGN UK

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