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Much had happened in the half-decade since Timothy Daltons second and final outing,License to Kill.
The Berlin Wall had toppled, Englands own geopolitical importance diminished, and the Soviet empire collapsed.
And as the next millennium approached, what was more terrifying than the emergent ubiquity of computers?
EnterGoldenEyes Big Bad, Alec Trevelyan (Sean Bean).
Alec has the brawn but doesnt boast the brains.
(a Bond catchphrase that has stuck like few others).
So, you were on set from day one.
It was pretty exciting, pretty terrifying.
It was the first day of a huge film and there hadnt been a Bond film for years.
There was a new Bond, Pierce.
I found that hilarious.
Do you still have yours?No, I dont.
And Im just thinking,Where has thatbeen?
Ive had experiences like that, but usually with glitter.
What was your initial take on Pierce?I cant remember when I met him, actually.
But he was just a darling from the beginning a hoot.
And there was this stuff called activator.
We used to get activator put in our hair.
All of a sudden, a bread roll hit my head.
And it was Pierce.
Bond films are known for their exotic locations.
We were all supposed to go and they changed their minds.
So I was in Leavesden and this Russian church on Marylebone High Street, or somewhere.
I did not get to go anywhere glamorous at all.
There was a lot of stuff going on in St. Petersburg and big cities in Russia.
They were worried about the mafia, I dunno why.
How did that happen?Hes a really good friend.
He would do little tricks when I was over at his house for dinner.
A lot of people click pens near me to this day, its sort of a thing.
thing and gets frozen by exploding liquid nitrogen canisters.
Some of the bits at the bottom of the buckets were still solid.
They hadnt turned into gas, I suppose.
And they stuck to my head.
They stuck to my scalp and were burning my scalp.
So Im screaming: Ah!
Theyre going, Get out the way!
And I couldnt because I was trapped by this rubber band thing, right?
and these firemen came on and started hosing my head.
When did you shoot the scene, towards the end?Probably.
They always shoot scenes like that towards the end in case you die.
I was gonna say!They do!
What, a model of myself frozen to death, looking really unattractive?
Let me think about that.
I was like, Oh, for fucks sake.
Then people sent me photographs of it around the world in various places.
Is it two and three-quarter hours?
Its two hours and 43 minutes.For fuck sake, thats too long.
But I thoughtCasino Royalewas absolutely brilliant.
I thought whats the one where Judi dies?
I think what theyve done is make them really goodfilms, not just good James Bond films.
Theyre a lot more character-based.
I think its got less campy and more sincere.
But I will go and seeNo Time to Die.
Two hours and three-quarters is just too long!
Maybe he just … unfroze?
Maybe the liquid, whatever it was, computer coolant, didnt actually kill him?
I dont know, I think itd be hilarious to bring him back as a Russian baddie.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
