jeffrey wright
lights camera hollywood action
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photo by steed media service |
The face may be familiar, but not many people connect the name Jeffrey Wright with the extraordinary actor they see on the screen. Winner of a Golden Globe and Tony Award, the Washington, D.C., native is primed for an increase in visibility thanks in large part to the reprisal of his role as CIA agent Felix Leiter in the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Having already turned heads as only the second African American to ever portray Leiter in 2006’s Casino Royale, Wright sat down with rolling out to discuss his association with the luminous Bond. –djr
How did you become involved in the Bond series?
A few years ago, I received a call from my agent who said that he got an offer for me to be in the new James Bond film as some CIA agent. So I said cool. When I got the script and looked at it, I said, ‘what do you mean just some CIA agent? This is Felix Leiter!’ I had grown up a Bond fan, and particularly a fan of Sean Connery and Jack Lord, who was the first Leiter. Outside of Miles Davis, he was one of the coolest cats on the ‘60s art scene. Jack Lord was a bad dude. So the idea of creating a character on film that had been portrayed by this man was very exciting to me.
Tell us about your relationship with Daniel Craig, the new James Bond.
I’ve known Daniel since the week it was announced that he’d be the next Bond. So I’ve known him since the beginning of this journey for him. I like him, and I think that he likes me. I think we understand one another, and I think we both have a healthy balance between an appreciation and disregard for acting. So I think our styles work well together, and I hope that it’s evident on screen.
Where do your passions truly lie — on the stage or screen?
I enjoy working on the Bond films a lot. It’s big-budget moviemaking, but there’s a humility about it that almost gives it the feel of an independent film. There’s not a lot of external pressures, and there’s not a lot of ego. There is just this shared aspiration towards intelligence, instead of dumbing things down. So I enjoy that. We also got to work in Panama, and that isn’t something that you get to do Off-Broadway. But there are pros and cons. Film is collaborative, and when you get the right syncing up of people and story, you can create a wonderful organism together. When it’s bad though, it’s the worst.
*Ro tidbit: Check out the amazing work of Jeffrey Wright in the latest Bond flick, Quantum of Solace.
