Olga kurylenko, a new kind of 'bond girl' in "Quantum Of Solace"

Olga Kurylenko (“Hitman,” “Max Payne”) stars opposite Daniel Craig in Columbia Pictures’ new James Bond action-thriller “Quantum of Solace” as Camille, a woman focused on avenging the murder of her family.

In the movie, Bond (Craig) and Kurylenko’s character try to save Bolivia’s water supplies.

“Camille is quite a strong woman, very independent. She carries a wound which comes from her childhood,” says Kurylenko. “There is something very terrible that happened to her when she was a little girl and everything she focuses on is revenge connected to this event and that is her motivation in the movie.”

“She’s smart, focused and skillful,” Kurylenko continues. “Camille’s got the tools to fight, but also she isn’t afraid to use her feminine charm. In fact, it’s because she is a girl, no one suspects her. When she first meets Bond she doesn’t even notice him because she is so determined and focused on her own revenge mission but, little by little, she understands they are going in the same direction, even if their goals are not exactly the same.”

In “Quantum of Solace” (which is a direct sequel to 2006’s “Casino Royale”), Agent 007 and M’s (Judi Dench) interrogation of Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) proves no one can be trusted. Fueled by the betrayal of Vesper, the woman he loved (in “Royale”), Bond’s determination to track down the mastermind behind White’s sinister organization leads to Haiti, where he finds an unlikely ally in Camille, a beautiful but feisty stranger.

“I don’t think Camille is a typical Bond girl. She is one of the few Bond girls in the history of the films who does not sleep with Bond,” Kurylenko laughs. “She’s a strong character, she knows what she wants and she is determined.”

Kurylenko was required to train extensively for the stunt sequences film. “Once I read the script I was super excited. I really liked the character and I liked that she was going to be involved in so much action. I figured there would be a lot of work with weapons and stunts, driving, freefalling and where else do you get the opportunity to do that? I worked with different people to train for different stunts: the fights, the boat, driving.”

She continues, “The stunt guys have been so helpful to me, everything is a question of learning and they are good teachers, everything is explained so well. There was one occasion, during the party scene, when Greene (played by Mathieu Amalric) is supposed to almost push me off a very high balustrade. I’m scared of heights and when I first saw it, I thought there is no way I can do that – I can’t even walk on the balcony of my apartment. But the stunt team took me up there and went through things slowly. They were so patient and I managed to do it!”

Kurylenko is full of admiration and praise for co-star Daniel Craig. “It is great to work with Daniel. He is professional and very concentrated. He is totally focused and serious about the role but he has a good sense of humor – his jokes are very, very funny. I think Daniel has been so successful in taking over the role of James Bond because he is a great actor but I think his look is also very important. He looks so masculine and tough. The power in his eyes is incredible. I experienced that in one scene, he just looked at me and he cuts through you with his eyes – it’s very powerful.”

Kurylenko’s role is also as interesting as her backstory. The model and actress began acting by playing Santa Claus’ young wife in a school play in her Ukrainian hometown.

Teachers remember the 28-year-old brunette for the determination, drive and luck that turned her into a Bond Girl.

“She was such a talented girl,” said her hometown piano teacher, Halina Kulchitska. “Even if she hadn’t become James Bond’s girl, she still would have gotten some big role.”

Kurylenko grew up in this city of 140,000 on the Azov Sea in southeastern Ukraine. Raised by her mother, Marina, an art teacher, and her grandmother, a doctor, Kurylenko and her family lived in a three-room apartment not far from the city center. That was a luxury by Soviet standards, when many lived in communal flats, sharing the kitchen and bathroom with several families.

Today her crumbling five-story apartment building, where carpets, comforters and underpants are hung to dry in the courtyard and children play on rusting slides, is testimony to how far she’s traveled since then.

Kurylenko’s star began to rise at 16 when she was spotted by a model scout in the subway in Moscow, where she was on vacation. She moved to Paris to work in a modeling agency, then began a career as an actress.

Kurylenko’s drama teacher, Ina Kaminska, said her student simply got lucky.

“It’s all great, just great, we are all very happy — she became a Cinderella — but nevertheless when she was in my class I didn’t see that kind of future for her,” the 70-year-old Kaminska said.

Kurylenko got one of her first main roles after she joined the school drama class in the seventh grade, playing the young wife of Grandfather Frost, the local equivalent of Santa Claus.

After she was cast for the new Bond movie, Kurylenko’s school was besieged by journalists and abuzz with all things related to her. Teachers even put her photos as a model and actress prominently on display at the school, but they were later taken down after parents of younger students complained the pictures were too revealing.

Nevertheless, Kurylenko expressed incredulity over being a Bond Girl. “I still don’t believe it and don’t think that I realize it yet.” 

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Quantum of Solace” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures International. (with reports from AP)