Unbuttoning his shirt, sliding a hand up his thigh, delivering the line "we're the last two rats, and we can either eat each other, or eat everyone else" — Raoul Silva's interrogation of Bond in Skyfall remains, over a decade later, one of the franchise's most unforgettable villain moments. Speaking at a BFI London Film Festival panel, Javier Bardem confirmed that this suggestive turn wasn't originally in the script — it was something he personally proposed to director Sam Mendes.
"We sat down together to read through the script, and Mendes was really open to what I wanted to do with the character's sexuality," Bardem recalled. "I said, every villain wants to destroy the world, but what if there was something more personal? Beyond wanting to destroy the world, he also wants to sleep with Bond." Mendes later had to check with the studio whether this new take would fly, and Bardem said "the studio was brave" enough to greenlight the scene.
In the scene, Daniel Craig's Bond is tied to a chair as Silva unbuttons his shirt and says "there's always a first time," to which Bond replies, "what makes you think this is my first time?" Bardem believes the scene is so memorable because it "puts Bond in a situation he's never experienced before, and the way he gets out of it is brilliant."
During the panel, Bardem also shared another moment from set — while filming the scene where Silva is held captive and interrogated, he suddenly blanked on his lines. "That's when it hit me that I was actually in a Bond film. I looked over and saw Judi Dench as M, James Bond standing right in front of me looking at me, and I just thought, 'Shit, I'm in a Bond movie.'"
As for who will take on the role of the next 007, producer Amy Pascal previously said a decision would be made by the end of this year, calling Daniel Craig "a tough act to follow" and stating the new pick needs to be "totally different, exciting." Reports suggest Tom Holland is out of the running due to his Marvel contract, Taron Egerton has ruled himself out, and Callum Turner dodged questions on the red carpet. Meanwhile, Gary Oldman is championing his Slow Horses co-star Jack Lowden, while Danny Boyle is said to favor Jack O'Connell. The new Bond film will be directed by Denis Villeneuve, with a script penned by Steven Knight.
