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MI6 profiles Naomie Harris, who will play the
field agent Eve in the upcoming 23rd James
Bond adventure, "Skyfall"...
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Meet The Cast - Naomie Harris
29th November 2011
Naomie Melanie Harris was born in Finsbury Park, London on 6th September 1976 to Lisselle Kayla, a Jamaican-born screenwriter. Harris was raised in the British capital and attended a local school before studying Pembroke College, Cambridge, for a social science degree. Yet, as early as age nine Harris was taking bit parts in film and television, in part, prompted by her mother who was in the industry.
During her time at university, it was a challenge for Harris to find her feet in academia. Years later she recalled her mother's warning that the lifestyle would be very unfamiliar. Her peers all enjoyed British 'public' school educations, whilst she was fresh from the Big Smoke.
Beyond her studies Naomie found a passion for the dramatic arts and appeared in several local productions before attending Anna Scher Theatre School. Shunning her liberal arts degree, Harris took herself to Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, whose alumni include both Moneypennys, Samantha Bond and Caroline Bliss as well as Daniel Day-Lewis, Jeremy Northam, Miranda Richardson and many other famed British actors and actresses.
Namoie appeared in "Runaway Bay" (1993), and "The Tomorrow People" (1992-5) when she was in her late teens. Her work on these now-forgotten TV dramas set her in good stead for the forthcoming Scifi/disaster film, "28 Days Later" (2002), which also starred Irishmen Cillian Murphy and Brendan Gleeson.
On the basis of her work in this well-received thriller, Harris eared a series of supporting roles in big-budget films - both British and American - during the early 2000s. |
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Datastream
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| Name: |
Naomie Harris |
| Character: |
Eve |
| Film: |
Skyfall |
| Awards: |
1 Royal Television Society, 1 Black Reel Award |
| Hair: |
Dark Brown |
| Eyes: |
Brown |
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In 2004 Harris teamed up with then-current 007 star Pierce Brosnan in Brett Ratner's "After the Sunset". The film was a light-hearted action comedy about a master thief (Brosnan) who attempts to find some peace and quiet in the Caribbean. Naomie Harris played local cop, Sophie, who assists FBI agent Stanley P Lloyd who is out to catch the thief.
She joined a British all-star comedic cast in "A Cock and Bull Story", which paired up Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, supported by Dylan Moran, Keeley Hawes, David Walliams and Jeremy Northam. She is, however, probably most remembered for her roles in the second and third "Pirates" films "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006) and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End". Harris played the mysterious and isolated trader Tia Dalma.
"I'm still having to pinch myself. I am totally so excited and raring to go. I spent two months training, so I feel really ready for the roller coaster that is about to commence." - Harris on being cast in "Skyfall". |
It was whilst promoting her 2010 biopic of the Kenyan activist Jane Obinchu, entitled "The First Grader", that news first broke that Harris was in talks to play an unknown role in James Bond 23 ("Skyfall"). In an unusual turn of events, Harris spoke out about the rumours and these were even confirmed by the James Bond filmmakers, EON Productions. It is now known that Harris was in intensive training to play a field agent named "Eve" in the movie. Days after this was confirmed at an official press conference by director Sam Mendes, the tabloids continued to speculate that Eve was really Miss Moneypenny and part of the plot of the film would be a origins story for M's famous secretary.
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Selected Interview Quotes
"I've been driving cars and stunt fighting and yoga (to get my body really toned), firing guns, machine guns and Walter PPKs. I've done a lot of work over the last two months." - On gearing up for her stunt work in "Skyfall".
"I wanted to play roles which offered new ways of viewing black women and black people in general - and I have done that. And I have always, whether I needed to pay the rent or not, I've always turned down roles which I thought were stereotypical." - Harris on race and skincolour in Hollywood.
"I haven't been directed by a woman. I'd love to be; it would make a big difference. Often as an actress you can feel very alienated, especially if you are playing the female lead in a male-dominated cast and environment. It's very hard to feel relaxed, to feel able to express yourself and to feel that you will be heard in that kind of environment." |
"It's business first and foremost in the US, and you're a commodity. But I love their can-do mentality." - Harris on shooting in Hollywood.
Briefing
The 23rd James Bond
film, "Skyfall", commenced principal studio photography on 7th November
2011 for a UK
release on October 26th, 2012 and the USA on November
9, 2012. MGM will produce, finance and distribute 007's
23rd adventure in
partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Daniel Craig will
be returning as the legendary British secret agent, alongside Judi
Dench as "M", with Sam Mendes directing a screenplay written by Neal
Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan. The cast will also include Bérénice Marlohe,
Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and Ben Wishaw.
The film will shoot at Pinewood Studios and on location in London, England;
Scotland; Shanghai, China and Istanbul, Turkey.
It will be the longest gap between Bond movies without
a change in the lead role. In addition, 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of
the EON Productions series of James
Bond films.
