Mexico city. What were you doing there . I was taking holiday. What is going on james . They say you are finished. What do you think think . I think you are just getting started. Magnificent. Zero to 60 in 3. 2 seconds. Do one more thing for me. What do you have in mind . Make me disappear. Tell me where he is. He is everywhere. You are crossing over into a place where there is no mercy. You are protecting someone. Get away from me why should i trust you . Because right now im your , best chance of staying alive. This organization, do you know what it is called . Its name is spectre. You know what links them all . Me. Welcome, james. You came across me so many times. Yet you never saw me. What took you so long . Is this really what you want . Living in the shadows . Hunting, being hunted . Always alone . I dont stop to think about it. It was me, james. The author of all of your pain. Charlie i am pleased to have daniel craig and sam mendes back at this table. Welcome. So how hard was it to top skyfall . Sam we were determined to make a completely different movie. The dangerous thing is to repeat the same formula. Almost everything about this movie is different. We shot this on film charlie why did you do that . A lot of great filmmakers use film. Sam from either was a romance about this movie i wanted to try and achieve. Its a love story. But a nostalgia to the film as well. There is a grandness, a grandeur. Yfall. In digital on sk in daylight scenes to be harsh. You spend time trying to soften it. And there is a routine. [laughter] [indiscernible] sam i needed a few extra pages. Daniel you spend all this time trying to make digital look like film. Why not use film . Charlie choose film. Did you want him to do this . I mean, did you get on your knees . Daniel all of those things. i was desperate for him. Because i felt that we had started something with skyfall and i had the pleasure of working with sam on road to perdition. I was a small part in that. I had fun doing it. But i felt like we were just starting to learn something about each other and working together that felt satisfying so creative. Lt sam has been kind to allow me to have an opinion. Charlie you really want to make this. You know it is going to be gangbusters. Is part of what you want to do , how can i do this better, different, stretch the boundaries of bond . We went deep into his childhood. Sam both of us were agreeing, we would want to do any of this and less we were doing all of those things. You have to push it in some way. There is no source material. We are trying to invent this from scratch. There is a huge amount of work that goes on with trying to bring a story together. That is where the work is done. Writers were putting things together. We would sit down together and i dont know about you but there is something that started to snowball. The creatives started coming into the room and the enthusiasm because of skyfall, and a sense of a lot of goodwill, people came in firing on all cylinders. Charlie who is in the room . Sam the truth is, it was odd for me because as a director you are used to being the one in control ultimately. And to come onto a franchise where you have someone you know and is your friend, who knows more about it than you do, who has made two bond movies and i washe part before asking daniel to play the role, playing catchup. He is weak throughout. He is a beat behind every one. In the end of skyfall, he has failed. He died in the arms. I loved working with him but he wasnt released into the role because it was like putting him into a straitjacket. And on top of that he had more experience than me. There was a suspicion, we wanted to let each other rip away. At the beginning, i said you are ahead of everybody. No one knows what he is up to. That is going to allow us much more freedom. This allows him more freedom, and as actor, any time you have an idea, just do it. You dont even have to ask me. If you have a line, just do it. That kind of freedom, i was struck by what Steven Spielberg jones. Ut indiana with harrison, there was less and less in the script. You get a shorthand going and you just know that you know the world properly. There is no standoff anymore. You are fully invested. All of the people returned. Everyone returned. Not only actors like ralph fienes, but also crew members, everybody. And where there was a sense of skyfall, can this guy do an action movie . Is it going to be in our house bond . , they just wanted to do the best we can. We are all wearing our skyfall jackets and tshirts. They would have gone everywhere with us. That is unusual but it is because we went and made a movie before with everyone else. Charlie give an example of where you went off script. Does anything come to you . Daniel obviously in interview situations, very little. Sam one of my favorite sections of the movie for me, the most difficult thing is to combine in the middle of bruising action, a love story. One of the things i was concerned about and worried about was trying to have something that was delicate and intimate in the middle of it all. We are lucky because lea gives a stunning performance. In those scenes a lot of what , daniel said, he just invented it. You may not remember it now. There are lines throughout that scene. Just speaking as he thinks. There are funny lines also. A good example, a rollsroyce coming out of the desert. Right in the middle of the movie its a completely surreal image. ,and she says what is that . The line is, it looks like our ride or Something Like that. That was scripted. Daniel said that is a 1948 rose royce. That is the only thing you can get away with in a bond movie. When you have played bond couple of times, its a better line on so many levels. He wasnt quite committed thought, am i allowed . I said it is great. Having the courage to not feel judged by me, that is a good example. A good example of how you can shift tones without not away from dialogue but in the beginning he collapses, he falls through a building. From story to story he supposed , to land on his feet. Beforeabout 10 minutes we did it why dont you land on , the sofa . He said great. Where is that . That is the first time it allows the audience to say even though it is serious, the last movie had a toughness to it, a slight grimness to it. It was not always certain we were allowed to. And i wanted to be clear from the beginning we wanted to loosen up a bit and have a bit more mischief. Charlie what did you want to add . Vulnerability . Was that a quality, how would you characterize it . Beginning mythe only intention was the center of a big movie, it doesnt matter how outrageous it is. If you believe in the central characters, youre going to have a better time. And i just think he is flawed. I get a lot of stick for giving him stick. He kills people for a living. He lives alone. He sleeps with lots of women. I find that fascinating. That appeals to me. Charlie and why is he like that . Daniel why is he like that . And also, you have to see someone who has weaknesses on screen. Otherwise, they are twodimensional. Charlie and you want them to be three at least. Daniel at least three. Im looking for four. Charlie people have noticed there is a serialization, with whatever that means, in the movies. Daniel a happy accident. by the time sam did skyfall it seemed to make sense. We came to do this movie and we wanted to tie up some loose ends. They fitted well. Sam we took some risks. Even daniel was uncertain about the freudian touches of the last movie. Seeing the reason for bond becoming bond as a child. Are we going to get away with this . Really . I was not sure we were. Now it looks like it was a given we were going to do well, but we were showing a character who is aging. Everyone is saying you are getting too old. Daniel was entirely 100 about. [laughter] and on top of that we had a character dying which is unheard of in a bond movie. I thought we would be hit with we want escapism. We dont want to be told people are aging. I mean, we come to these movies to be told they dont have to worry about this stuff. So the fact that people embraced it and allowed us to go further tell a second story of his childhood kind of obliquely. Charlie u. S. Seen this more than he has. There are things that seem to be needed. The chase scene at the beginning. You have to do something dramatic in the first three or four minutes. Or not . Daniel you are shortchanging people if you dont. Charlie that is interesting. Because they want that and expect that . Like that . Daniel because it sets the town. I think that when i look back at movies, as a kid in the cinema, that those first five minutes or whatever it is. How long is it . Sam 10 minutes. Charlie before he is doing something. Daniel before the credit sequence. Has beenels era around 10 minutes. For me the first bond movie was north by northwest. Even though it was not a bond movie. The best line about casting the stars. Why are you always casting Jimmy Stewart . Because it saves me 10 minutes of exposition. The audience has a relationship already. That is true with bond. They already know bond. They know daniel, too. That gives you the freedom and a bond movie. For 10 minutes you dont really have to tell them what is going on. You can offer to play catchup with no explanation and expect them to shadow the central character. I felt the freedom of that. It was not a burden. Charlie the other thing you have to have is a fascinating villain. You have to have somebody who is beyond. He cannot be ordinary. He has to be smarter and tougher . Sam i think its an interesting thing. Daniel this time we wanted to go to the top. We wanted there to be no one about this person. Charlie the head of spectre. Sam absolutely. We wanted to raise the stakes. Charlie do you share that . Raise the stakes, do something with it . Is that daniel i remember hearing something about sam, that we would look at each other and go is this good enough . What we have just done . We did a number of times. We would shoot the scene, more so on this movie, we would look at each other and go not happy. Charlie youd see it in his eyes . Sam you have to let it sit for a bit. Sometimes scenes that are wobbly , sometimes turn out fine. You need distance. Both scenes, a scene in skyfall which is pivotal between bond and m that we reshot, the equivalent scene with bond and moneypenny we reshot. Because it was a springboard for the story on so many levels. And both times we shot them early in the movie. And we watch them develop. We said im going to go back. I did leaving go back to the end of the sentence and he said thats fine. Charlie i was going to ask that. How often do you want to do that . Daniel less than you think. I think there is a relief sometimes when you have done stuff and you there are some things you are nervous about but when it is clear, and there is the time it is a luxury that we did it. Charlie how do you know when you have done enough bond . [laughter] daniel i dont know. I dont know. Charlie you will know when you know . Daniel ill know when ill know. I can honestly say i have enjoyed making this movie more than the others put together. Charlie all the other bond movies. You enjoyed making spectre. Daniel probably because of him. And the relationship we sort of have. The trust thing. Sam had my back. I felt more relaxed. Out. Ld sort of zone my tendency was on the past movie is was i felt like i needed to control everything. Im the guy in the front, who is at the head of the party and has to be in charge. Sam took that away from me and allowed me to be an actor which i havent done for a long time. So it is a hard one. Sam it was a really tough shoot because it was long. Lots of different countries. It was grueling. Physically people were injured , and all sorts of stuff. But it was more fun. It was more exciting. And you know the thing about , doing another one, you are running a marathon. 100 yards to the finish line, someone shouts out, do you want to run another marathon . You will give them a twoword an swer. Just let me [indiscernible] sit down and feel good about finishing and then i will have a think. But it is a marathon. For him. Charlie why does bond have a hold on audiences . What is it that makes it . Is it the character created so many years ago . Or is it somehow, you are the guy who knows it. Daniel i have grown to know what it is. But you know i was a rabbit in , the headlights when i did Casino Royale. Here is what i did. The producers, i said i dont know how im going to do this. I have no idea. This is a tall order. I dont know why you are casting me. It is the last thing i expected. But if you allow me to get involved, to be part of the process, i can do it. Because i can feel like i want to be a filmmaker. I dont want to be just the gun for hire. Who comes in, leaves, goes home. I want to feel like i am part of the process. Because i have to invest myself in this, everything i have in this. Because this is a onceinalifetime chance. They dont come around very often. And they did. They let me have it and be part of it. And i think that has been a huge learning curve for me. I have developed more as a filmmaker. As someone now i want to , produce, i want to find material. I want to, i love charlie but you have roles you still want to play. Daniel i still want to act. Doing spectre has reminded me how much i love doing this. Ive been doing it for 30 years. And you know i love acting. , charlie would you have been willing to direct bond if it was not daniel craig . [laughter] i know. Sam the reason i came on board is this is no secret but they asked did i think my friend, daniel craig would make a good bond and i said no. I didnt. To be honest with you at that , point i couldnt equate what bond had become. Urbane, eyebrow raising, sauve. With this nutter i worked with in chicago. This anarchist. Then i saw Casino Royale. It was like the return of something. It was not an accident. It was an ian fleming novel. It was a great story. Barbara and michael had the courage to remove camp from the franchise along with supporting characters. And all of that sort of daniel not that im not camp. Charlie especially in the ads. Ive seen you selling. [laughter] havent we . [laughter] charlie i should take a look at these clips. Here it is. [laughter] sam you really dont have to. Charlie i will do one. Roll tape. [sounds of fighting] charlie looks easy to me. [laughter] and physical by the way. Daniel that is just the way i have started them. I kind of i actually find it a huge amount of fun. That sequence itself, we had six weeks of rehearsal. Off and on during other parts of rehearsal. And preparing for the film it , ends up being a dance routine. And boy, i am no fred astaire. But it is choreography. It is a lot of fun. David in that scene is a supreme athlete and a joy to work with. He does not break into a sweat. Im literally like [laughter] just breathing very slowly. It is what he does. Im just trying to get out of the way. Charlie what was the challenge of shooting that . The camera work. Sam i am very oldfashioned with action to be frank. I am a real believer in continuity, not crossing the line, screen direction remaining the same, see can follow where every punch is going. Im not a fan of throw some cameras up. Smoke and mirrors. It makes it very pedestrian to shoot and very satisfying i think to watch but it is slower. The other thing, like you said in Casino Royale he did , everything for real and you believed in the jeopardy and he was viable and capable of beating someone to a pulp. He has had to continue that. Here. That but you know, that fight moves through four carriages and it is a significant set piece. It was really satisfying when you put it together but to shoot it is painstaking. Charlie in skyfall was a hard to kill off judi dench . Sam it was difficult because there was something about her spirit. But it know about daniel, tha love her. She is an extraordinary person. Like a good luck charm. She just makes everyone better. She is one of those actors who is incapable of doing a bad take. Every one is good. Every one is different. She has an amazing effect on everyone around her. I asked charlie how did you . Sam we have to tell her agent first so she can break the news rather than break it to her over lunch. And she arrived and looked at me and said here i and tear stained and livid. [laughter] but she took it. You know, i think it was tricky. It was difficult. It was part of her life for 20 years. Part of her family, and it is an extended family. Barbara makes it so. It is difficult for someone like that to feel like they are not part of it anymore. Charlie how do you find a balance . You are going to do othello. Playing iago. What is your plan for finding when to do it . Daniel what he did not say about the train fight, i damaged my knee quite badly in the train fight so im going to have surgery which will force me to have some time off. Charlie what did you knew . Daniel i lost my acl. I have great people around me. Charlie in this scene . Sam and its that take. Charlie could i see that i looked . Daniel no. No. [indiscernible] that gives me some time off and that is the way i am going to deal with the next six months. Then i want to do othello. We start rehearsing next year. Charlie its opening where . Daniel at the manhattan theater workshop. New york city workshop. Charlie and one more scene. This is number three. Lets see them together. Information is all, is it not . For example, you must know by now that the double low program is dead, which leads me to speculate why you came. So, james, why did you come . To kill you. And i thought you came here to die. It is a matter of perspective. Charlie wow. [laughter] daniel fun, isnt it . Charlie it is. What else is next . Other than getting well. Daniel not thinking about james bond, i think we are in that boat. Charlie how long does it take . Sam two and a half years. Charlie total . Sam 69 months working on the script while doing other things and then complete for two years. With the pressure on big movies to deliver, movies take longer to make these days. If you are doing something for real. It involves traveling the world, which we did. Charlie there is no smart way to ask this. Are you already think about doing it again or will you do for that . Daniel it is literally one of those things have been said and ive said in the press. Two days after i finished filming. No, of course not. [laughter] i would work with him again tomorrow. I love the family i work with on this. Ive had an amazing time doing this one. But i need six months. Literally just to think about Something Else and clear my mind. I dont want to begin a debate because it becomes about Something Else. We have spent two years producing this movie. We are very proud of it and want as many people to see it. All people are talking about is who is going to be the next james bond. Sam ones life is not a democracy by a dictatorship. However much they may try to persuade you. Charlie you are doing other stuff . Sam no. Im unemployed. Charlie thank you for coming. It is great to see you again. Charlie we continue with sam mendes. He is an Academy Awardwinning director. He directed spectre. His previous film skyfall became the most successful bond film of all time. It is sc