Ben Whishaw has a new question and answer interview session, this time with Shortlist, in promotion for his new movie ‘Skyfall’.  Whishaw was famously not asked to audition and just given the role of genius hacker Q by director Sam Mendes in the latest James Bond film.  

 

Whishaw talks about having to stay silent about getting the role, and when asked if it was difficult to keep the role a secret, he says, “Pretty difficult because I had to tell my brother [laughs].”  When asked if his brother was a major Bond ‘nut’, he says, “No more so than everyone else. Even people who don’t go to the cinema get excited about a new Bond [film]. But I had to tell him. He didn’t believe me at first [laughs]. You have to sign a confidentiality agreement which, if you broke, your life would not be worth living.”

He also adds that he didn’t have to audition for the role, and that director Sam Mendes just gave it to him, no questions asked.  “Sam [Mendes] just offered it to me out of the blue. It was incredibly exciting.”

 

He also talks about working with Daniel Craig a couple of times and is asked whether Craig has changed since becoming James Bond; Whishaw replies, “No, he’s exactly the same – a really nice bloke. He’s a perfectionist; incredibly dedicated to his work and pretty hard on himself. I think he does feel the pressure of that character and having to deliver. But he can also be very playful and quite silly.”

 

Skyfall has been getting very strong advance buzz and reviews ahead of its November release.