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MI6 caught up with 2003 Taurus World Stuntman Nominee
and "Die Another Day" stuntman George Cottle...
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Interview - George Cottle (Part 4)
13th January 2004
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.
Achievement & Recognition...
Above: One of George Cottle's many stunts
in the Jaguar XKR in Iceland and Pinewood Studios. |
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How did you feel about the stuntman nomination with
Ray De-haan for ‘Best Work With A Vehicle’ this
year?
Ah! We were chuffed, I mean absolutely chuffed! What’s
nice about me and Ray is we both have kind of the same
outlook on it and we were both
very lucky to do it as a job. But at the end of the day
it’s
just a job and we are just kids at
heart, but to be nominated the world over for the stuff
we had done
was fantastic. Especially when you think that the Bond
crew had the choice of any drivers in the world and they
picked
me and Ray, it really does make you feel fantastic!
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How do you think the last film has compared to the
other Bond films Pierce has done?
I think it was good. Obviously the writers are always under
pressure to come up with new stuff and keep the audience interested
and try and have that extra
angle. But I think that the hovercraft stuff was a fantastic idea, and from
a stunt point of view the car on the ice was a great idea because
it’s never
been done. So yeah I think the writers are coming up with some really
good stuff, and Pierce is lucky that he has so many great ideas
behind
him.
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Ice Palace Chase
The end of the chase was altered late on in the production
- how did this alter your preparation?
It wasn’t too bad for us, because believe it or not
we're quite used to things being thrown to us at the last
second. And even on the day, `right guys you're not doing
this today you're doing this`, myself and Ray coped with
it quite
well.
The only thing they have to understand is that stunts
take time and a lot of the things can’t be
rushed. Obviously they have to bear with us in regards
to that.
Everyone is of course very safety conscious, and also
down to the fact that if they want us to perform certain
things
and the cars were not prepped then we can’t do them.
Was the car used for the Ice Palace sequence the retrofit
car or the hero car?
In the ice palace we used the retrofit car because there
were some very steep climbs up and down the stairs, so
we still used
the
same
cars
we had on the ice.
Right: George takes a break in between
the action at Pinewood Studios.
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DVD Chapter
"Die Another Day" Special
Edition
Chase Against Time
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Did you bring the cars back from Iceland?
Yup, the cars were shipped back from Iceland, so literally as we got
back from Iceland we had about a week to 10 days to prep for the palace and
then
the
cars were back.
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How close to the storyboards and pre-visualisation
did the chase end up?
I think it was, when Vic was talking to us about it in
Iceland. All the ideas they were coming out with they pretty
much
stuck to plan. That’s what is fantastic about
Vic - if he has a visual idea in his head he speaks to
you, and tells
you what he wants and when he wants it.
Left: A stripped down XKR is prepared for the leap from
the balcony. |
Many Thanks to George Cottle. MI6 would
like to wish him good luck with his future work.
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 3)
MI6 "Die Another
Day" Coverage
