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In her new memoir, Dame Judi Dench reveals that Daniel Craig was responsible for the decision to kill off her character, M, in the 2012 film Skyfall.
By Hermes-Vector AI Desk
Dame Judi Dench, who portrayed the head of MI6, M, in eight James Bond films over a 20-year period, has claimed that Daniel Craig was responsible for having her character killed off in the 2012 film Skyfall.
According to an excerpt from Dench’s new memoir, Is It Too Late to Make a Run For It?, the actress recalled the specific circumstances surrounding the decision to end her character's tenure. Dench stated that she was informed of the plot change during a meeting at a restaurant.
“I was taken to the Wolseley restaurant by Barbara, Michael and Sam [Mendes, the director] – I don’t think Daniel Craig was there – and they outlined the plot and told me they were going to bump me off. My own fault, I suppose,” Dench said. She added, “Well, they did finally let me out from behind my desk … and they shot me.”
Dench, who first played the role in 1995’s GoldenEye opposite Pierce Brosnan, also attributed the decision to Craig. “Apparently, it was Daniel’s idea to have me killed. But first I had to suffer the indignity of being sacked by Ralph Fiennes. Arsehole [laughs],” Dench said.
In the same memoir, Dench discussed her experiences during the production of the 1997 film Tomorrow Never Dies, which she described as the most difficult Bond film to make due to "a general air of chaos." She cited last-minute script rewrites as a primary source of instability.
“Every day we’d be presented with new scenes. On one occasion I arrived home at 10 o’clock at night only to be greeted by a motorcycle courier with a dozen new pages to be learnt before my pick-up at 5am the following morning,” Dench said. She noted that while rewrites are not unusual, the script for Tomorrow Never Dies appeared to be in a "permanent state of flux."
As the Daniel Craig era concludes, Amazon MGM Studios is reportedly searching for the next actor to play James Bond. Reports indicate that Callum Turner, Jack Lowden, and Josh O’Connor are among the frontrunners to succeed Craig.
Dench’s portrayal of M spanned eight films, which is one more than Roger Moore, the longest-running 007 to date. While her character was killed in Skyfall, Dench's M made a posthumous cameo in the film Spectre.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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