In the world of James Bond, Rory Kinnear plays the man who knows it all – but the actor actually knows very little about the franchise he is famous for.
Alongside roles in The Bank of Dave and Black Mirror, Kinnear, 48, is perhaps best known for playing MI6 chief of staff Bill Tanner in the Bond films. The actor has starred in three of Daniel Craig’s Bond movies, playing the right-hand man to Judi Dench’s formidable M.
Kinnear, however, has admitted to not knowing much about the franchise prior to landing the coveted part. “I hadn’t seen Bond films before doing them,” he said in a recent interview with The Guardian. “It wasn’t something I watched.
“But I’ve enjoyed being in them, and it’s a nice night out to see the premiere! It’s good fun.”
While Kinnear did not shed any light on the rumour mill surrounding the casting of the next 007 – which puts Josh O’Connor, Jack Lowden, and Callum Turner as frontrunners to replace Craig – he did speak about his relationship with his co-star, Dench.
Kinnear, who is the godson of Dench’s late husband Michael Williams, said of Williams: “He and my dad became great mates when they were at the RSC [Royal Shakespeare Company] together. I didn’t know him that well before, but when Dad died he really upped his game.
“Then when I was working on the Bond films with Judi, it was great not to be cowed by the legend that is, and also to be able to have those shared memories.”
His father Roy, also a beloved actor, died at the age of 54 after being thrown from a horse while filming The Return of the Musketeers in 1988.
Asked about the “sad news” that Dench, 91, cannot work anymore due to her poor eyesight, Kinnear said: “Talk about people who love to act! Also, her extraordinary recall. We used to occasionally play a game where I’d give her a line from Shakespeare and see if she knew the next one.
“Even from roles she hadn’t played. She just knows the work inside out. I can’t remember a role two months after I’ve finished. It just goes.”
Earlier this year, Kinnear said that he had not heard anything about the new iteration of the franchise, which is being spearheaded by Amazon.
“That’s the exciting thing – I’m sure they’ll want to hold on to some continuity, what it means to people,” Kinnear said in September, adding that he would return if he got the call. “But there’ll be a whole different approach.”
He noted that people should be wary of any casting rumours, however, stating: “Thirteen years ago, The Telegraph announced me as the new Doctor Who – I don’t know where that came from. It does tend to be people who aren’t being talked about.”
Other actors to have played Bill Tanner in old Bond films include Michael Goodliffe (The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974), James Villiers (For Your Eyes Only, 1981) and Michael Kitchen in GoldenEye (1995) and The World is Not Enough (1999).
