MI6 caught up with 2003 Taurus World Stuntman Nominee and "Die Another Day" stuntman George Cottle...

Interview - George Cottle (Part 3)
23rd December 2003

MI6 caught up with 2003 Taurus World Stuntman Nominee, George Cottle last month. In this in depth four part interview we look at his experience on the latest Bond film, driving a hovercraft through a minefield and chasing Bond across the ice in a Jaguar.

Across The Open Ice..

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Where was the sequence filmed, and how long did it take from prep to shot? The ice chase was filmed in Iceland in Hotham. We filmed the main chase on the glacier lake there and when it goes into the ice palace that was all shot in Pinewood. We had 4 weeks filming in Iceland and then came back to I think 8 or 9 weeks at Pinewood.

Were there any heart-stopping moments during the shot or did everything go to plan? I’ve been on a few films now but I would have to say the worst one for me was Iceland. When Ray hit the Aston in to the iceberg because no one knew how the ice was going to respond and how Ray was going to be. Ray got out of the car with quite a nasty cut to his head. It was all a bit panicky at the time but the good thing about Bond is that you are always surrounded with the best safety crews in the world and your with a good bunch of boys around you so you always know your in the best of hands.

Above: The gripping action has even the stunt drivers biting their nails.

Jag’s And Aston’s

Was the car retrofitted for the chase sequence on the open ice ?
With regards to the engine. We always knew that the problem with the car was 400bhp of rear wheel drive so that on the ice all your going to be doing is sitting spinning in circles. Andy Smith with Vic was responsible for car modifications, and Vic stated very early on that he wanted all the cars 4 wheel drive. To be honest if we didn’t have that we would never have been able to what we did. So everything was stripped completely out and all they had was a bare shell, and they built a complete new car chassis, axle, etc. The car was phenomenal - we could lock all the discs, unlock all the discs, and alter break pressures from the front to the back. Essentially we had a rally car in an Aston Martin and Jaguar shell. So it was great for us to have someone who knew that much about it and would work so closely with us.

How many cars did you have for this part of the shot? We had 4 Jaguars and we had 4 Aston Martins, they were all retro fitted. And then we had what they call “Hero” cars, one genuine Aston Martin and one genuine Jaguar as well. Left: The cars were stripped down and fitted with 4-wheel drive.

How close to the storyboards and pre-visualisation did the chase end up?
I think it was pretty close, obviously things changed on the day, due to weather and what not. But I think that pretty much things did go to plan. Vic feared in the beginning was that the ice wasn’t going to be thick enough, which would have been one hell of a rewrite, but I think it pretty much all went to plan.

The ice sequence were notably shorter in the final cut of the film than expected, how much extra footage was shot? There was loads, I mean we spent the best part of 3 ½ weeks on the ice everyday doing some fantastic stuff and it’s really a shame none of it will ever come to light - but you know that’s the way it goes. What stuntmen look at and think is fantastic, some directors will think `no that’s not what I want`. It’s a shame because there’s some awesome stuff we had and it never made it to the film.

Above: The XKR and Vanquish on the Ice Palace set at Pinewood Studios, UK.

Have you seen the footage?
Yes I have. That for us is obviously the ideal cut because Vic will always want the best for the boys and from a stunt point of view.

Keep an eye out for the part three of the interview where we chat about the world wide recognition for his skills at the wheel..

Many thanks to George Cottle.
Images © 2003 Ford Motor Company and Wieck Media Services, Inc

Related Articles:
Interview - George Cottle (Part 1)
Interview - George Cottle (Part 2)
Interview - George Cottle (Part 4)
MI6 "Die Another Day" Coverage