Rory Kinnear Interview

Quote :

You’re currently filming the new James Bond film, Skyfall, returning as M's Chief of Staff, Bill Tanner. How’s that going so far?

"Great, we’ve just been at Pinewood and around Waterloo and Spitalfields doing some scenes with myself and Daniel [Craig] and Judi [Dench]. I go through to the beginning of February filming and I think they’re on until about April or May."

That sounds like a fairly long shoot for you, does this mean that we see a bit more of Tanner this time around?

"Yes, Tanner gets a bit more facetime this time, [the part] is a bit more beefed-up. He’s basically performing the same role but there’s a bit more of him."

There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the film with the 50th anniversary coming up; is that excitement present on set as well?

"I think everyone’s generally just really excited about the script and how good it is - and we’ve got Sam [Mendes] directing.

"Obviously this is now my second one so I know how Daniel and Judi work. We all seem to get on very well so it feels like I’m becoming slightly more part of the family."

Did you expect to return to the role of Tanner after Quantum of Solace?

"No, I wasn’t contracted to do any more so I guess I knew there was a possibility but I didn’t expect it, no."

In the books, Tanner is Bond’s best friend – would you like to see that dynamic develop onscreen?

"I don’t know, the Tanner of Quantum of Solace wasn’t really the Tanner of the books, so I guess it’s a new kind of role. He’s not the same age as Bond, as I think he is in the books, but I think in this film their relationship does develop, yes."

http://www.cultbox.co.uk/interviews/exclusives/2474-rory-kinnear-black-mirror-interview

That was a good interview. I do hope Bond & Tanner's relationship is developed, but I'm not holding my breath.

Indeed - hopefully this time around he's going to be more of a credible character, his role in QoS seemed sold down the river to enable a rather cheap mechanism to make M sound vaguely competent amid the most banal and rudimentary of plot points.

Louis Armstrong wrote:

That was a good interview. I do hope Bond & Tanner's relationship is developed, but I'm not holding my breath.

I feel the same way. The little moment in GE when Tanner refers to M as "the evil queen of numbers" is probably the closest we'll ever get out of that. I thought Michael Kitchen was wasted because he would have actually made a good Tanner, while his replacement Charles Robinson was just a bore.

Hopefully Kinnear's Tanner will have some sense of humour or irony this time around. Good to hear that the Bond-Tanner relationship will develop.