Billy Magnussen Gives His Honest Opinion On Logan Ash's Fight With Bond In No Time To Die - Exclusive
Daniel Craig was famously grumpy during the "Spectre" press tour in 2015. He told Time Out that he'd rather kill himself than play 007 again, and that "If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money." Yet here we are, with him playing Bond one last time in "No Time To Die." The pay was certainly great, but Craig also gave one of the most emotional, nuanced, and vulnerable.
Part of what makes this Bond portrayal different can be seen in his fight scene with Logan Ash, played by Billy Magnussen. Bond having associates who double cross him isn't unique. Bond arguably losing battles against those associates, however, is pretty novel. Even though Craig's Bond is more wont to get beat up than previous iterations, Ash separates himself by delivering a fatal blow to Felix Leiter.
Looper spoke with Magnussen about his role in "No Time To Die." He told us about working with Craig and his feelings about the fight scene.
'To fight Bond is insane'
When asked how he found working with Daniel Craig, Magnussen said that the star was "welcoming, inviting, he was the commander of the ship. Coming into work with a veteran actor like that, he made the stage so welcoming and shared it so graciously. I have no complaints with him. I respect that man so much."
It's not so much Magnussen fighting Craig as it is Ash fighting Bond. "To fight Bond is insane," he says. "It was such a crazy opportunity. The words can't describe, man, like what I went through ... While doing it, I didn't realize it. And looking back in hindsight, it's just like, damn, I got to fight Bond."
The fight took place in cramped quarters, and Magnussen insists, "That's the fun of it. There was this beautiful stunt team from France that choreographed the whole thing. And that's exactly what it is. It's choreography. It's a dance. And I have a little training in dance myself, and I love that because [of] the body movement and fighting, so the challenge of being in the confined space was what made it exciting, for me at least."
"No Time To Die" is now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD.