For many reasons, the modern run of James Bond films starring Daniel Craig have broken all sorts of boundaries set in the classic era. We’ve seen 007 get his heart broken, only to fall in love again, throughout the course of Casino Royale to Spectre; and even in the case of that second film mentioned, Bond found himself to be an adopted brother to his arch-nemesis. But one line that almost wasn’t crossed was that moment in Skyfall, when James Bond and Raoul Silva found themselves flirting during an interrogation. But thanks to series producer Barbara Broccoli, the moment stayed, thus landing one of Daniel Craig’s most memorable lines.
In the recently released documentary Being James Bond: The Daniel Craig Story, we’re shown that seductive Skyfall moment in all of its glory. As Javier Bardem’s Silva unbuttons Daniel Craig’s white shirt and spins lines about how standard operating procedure would address such a matter, Broccoli recalls the time where, thanks to studio executive meddling, we almost lost out on a piece of Bond history:
That scene with you and Javier, when the sort of sexual innuendo between the two of you, and you say, ‘What makes you think this is my first time?’ I mean, I remember we were told to cut that line by the studio, and we said ‘No, no no.’ We resisted. And I remember the night of the premiere, that line, just the whole place rocked it then, with that line. I remember looking at the studio executive who was in the next thing, going, ‘See, told you.’
This isn’t the first time that James Bond and Silva’s flirty moment in Skyfall has been invoked in recent conversation. When one of the film’s writers, John Logan, wrote an op-ed lamenting the Amazon purchase of MGM, a crucial example to how much he trusts Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson’s instincts came from their approval of this scene’s creation. Now, with Broccoli revealing this moment of just the sort of input Logan fears studio executives will still try to contribute, the trust fans have for EON Productions should only grow.
Skyfall’s villainous seduction is just one of the many reasons why Raoul Silva is one of, if not the best James Bond villain we’ve seen yet. Walking the line of innuendo, humor and menace, Javier Bardem’s performance as that character was as chilling as it was entertaining. And watching Daniel Craig go toe to toe with every move he makes, especially in the scene shown below, certainly makes Sam Mendes and John Logan’s initial pitch worth rejecting studio pressures to alter it:
So long as EON Productions has the James Bond franchise in its possession, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson will be the official arbiters of what stays and what goes. As we enter a new era of history, with Daniel Craig’s still-unnamed successor being the next face of Ian Fleming’s creation, this story is a timely reminder. No matter where things are going after No Time To Die, it’s at least assured that the Bond saga is still very much in good hands.
Daniel Craig’s James Bond fires his final shots in No Time To Die, which hits UK cinemas on September 30 and US theaters on October 8. Meanwhile, you can rent Being James Bond: The Daniel Craig Story, for free through Apple TV+ until October 7th. Last, but not least, you can catch Skyfall at its latest streaming home, as a part of the Paramount+ movie library.
