Rami Malek is out here praising Phoebe Waller-Bridge for completely transforming his Bond character.
The Bohemian Rhapsody star is set to play mysterious villain Safin in the new 007 movie, No Time To Die, and he says Safin was perfected over time during long phone conversations he had with Phoebe.
All we know so far about Safin is that he’s a ‘nasty piece of work’ according to Bond producer Barbra Broccolli, but it sounds like Phoebe was the brains behind bringing him to life.
Rami told Entertainment Weekly: ‘She had quite an impact on what I was doing. I’d have long phone conversations with her, giving her context as to what we were essentially looking for in the scenes – she would turn things over incredibly quickly.
‘We know [Phoebe] as a witty and funny writer, but she’s got a knack for drama and tension as well.’
Phoebe is a screenplay writer on the film and was hand-picked by Mr Bond himself Daniel Craig, after he was left impressed with her work on TV series Fleabag and Killing Eve.
Asked if it was his idea to get Phoebe on board, Daniel told The Times: ‘Yeah. She’s just brilliant. I had my eye on her ever since the first Fleabag and then I saw Killing Eve and what she did with that and just wanted her voice.’
‘It is so unique — we are very privileged to have her on board,’ he said before calling her a ‘f**king great writer’.
There’s no denying that and Phoebe is currently having a great run this awards season after taking home a SAG award for outstanding female actor in a comedy, along with the best actress in a comedy awards at Critics’ Choice and the Golden Globes.
No Time To Die will see Daniel play Bond for the final time – a decision that was spurred on after he injured his ankle on set of the new movie.
Daniel said he questioned whether he was ‘physically able’ to carry on playing the secret agent, after previously breaking his leg while filming Bond movie Spectre and more recently rupturing his ankle on set of No Time To Die.
Ever the pro, though, he was back to work in just two weeks, despite doctors telling him it would take 10 weeks to recover.
Would we expect anything less from Bond? Nope, probably not.
No Time To Die is in cinemas 2 April.
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