New Bond girl Caterina Murino spills the beans on Solange

Entertainment Weekly has interviewed new Bond girl Caterina Murino on her role in Casino Royale and other hot topics with the actress.

It's ironic that you landed the role of horsewoman Solange, since a horse almost caused you to blow your audition.
It was very funny because the day before, I had an accident with a horse. I was preparing for an Italian movie, and I fell down. I broke a rib on my right side. I was in the hospital. I was completely under drugs. I went there to the casting, and I couldn't walk. It was unusual; the Bond girl is so full of energy, and I can't walk! But Martin Campbell called me back to go to London and do the same scene with him. And I got the role.

When I read the script, 120 pages, there was only one f---ing horse, and it was mine. So I went back to riding horses. At first, it was just a small pony, just walking, because I am so afraid I am going to fall. I was shooting in the Bahamas for a month. For all month, I was riding a horse every day. I had a great teacher who pushed me every day to take off the fear. So everything you see is me. I don't use a stunt woman: I ride the horse on the beach with the green bikini.

What is Solange like?
Solange is not a typical Bond girl because she doesn't have an action scene. I have only the scene with the horse and the bikini on the beach. I don't try to kill James Bond. I tried to give some humanity to Solange. A lot of women have been hit by their husbands. I take revenge by sleeping with James Bond. Nice revenge! If all women who've been hit by their husbands can resolve in that way, it would be very nice.

How do you respond to criticism from fans that Daniel Craig is miscast as Bond?
I am happy that people speak bad about Daniel. They are going to be so surprised.

Before I went to the Bahamas, I saw Munich. After I came out of the theater, I was so scared. I thought, How can I play with him? How can I rise to his level? But he was such a professional, and he helped me so much. I am very glad I worked with him.

Daniel Craig is such a great actor � he was the right choice. [His] James Bond is not as much of a cartoon. There's less special effects, more stunt scenes, to make the movie more real. Daniel is playing James Bond like a real actor, not just playful, like always. When Daniel kills somebody, he's a real killer. When he kissed me, it was so sexy and so real. You will see James Bond fall in love for the first time � unfortunately, not with me. For the first time, you will see James Bond with blood in his face. I don't remember Sean Connery or Pierce Brosnan with blood in his face when he came out from a fight. He's so violent, and we never see James Bond violent. So modern. It's completely different from the 20 movies before.

Solange spends a fair amount of time in the casino. How are you at casino games?
I'm quite lucky. I went to Las Vegas for New Year's five years ago. I won a lot of money playing roulette and the slot machines. During the shoot in the Bahamas, I played a lot of poker, and I'm quite good. A lot of people told me I have a classic poker face. The crew started to play with me, and they started to be scared because at the end, I always win. I don't play all the time. We played just for fun, but in Las Vegas, I won, like, 4,000 Euros.

Are you worried about the possible career jinx of the Bond girl role?
To not kill my career as an actress after James Bond, I must make the right choice for my next movie. I'm very glad to be a Bond girl. I'm very glad to be a part of history. I'll be very glad, when I am 70 years old, to say to my child I was a Bond girl. But after the 17th of November, the page will turn, and I hope to be a normal European, international actress.

So what did you choose to do next?
In 2007, 2008, I have six movies, three Italian and three French. They are completely different, not very commercial movies. The three Italian movies, they are on my shoulders completely, and I hope to be good.

I am thankful to be a Bond girl because one of my movies � we've been working on it for two years � is about a girl in 1914 in Sicily who tries to be a priest, and she makes war against the Church. I live in Italy, it's an Italian movie, and if you go against the Vatican, it's impossible to find money. And now, because I am a Bond girl, we've found the money.

How has being a Bond girl affected your work as a goodwill ambassador for AMREF, a charity that provides medicine to the needy in Africa?
To be a Bond girl, to be an actress, to be a little more famous than before, can help something that's very important to me, like Africa. They asked me to be an ambassador three months ago. I told them I was glad to help.

I was in Kenya 10 days ago. I saw horrible things; I saw beautiful things. I saw a huge slum in Nairobi where babies live in the middle of s---, no water, no toilet. My association tries to give medical help because a lot of people have AIDS and tuberculosis. In the afternoon, I went to a camp where there are baby orphans because the parents died of AIDS. They are from 4 years old to 15 years old. They have nothing, no television, just a school. And everybody knows James Bond. I was so surprised. A 14-year-old boy asked me, ''Can you say hello for me to James?'' So I said hello for him to Daniel. [Bond producer] Barbara Broccoli was so impressed.

So you got to help people medically, even though you didn't get to become a doctor.
Exactly. That is what I felt when I was there in the middle of these babies. I believe in God. I am a Christian. Now I understand why I failed the exam. I am here and I can help the children in a different way. Life gives us different occasions to give back.

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