Richard Kiel
Richard Kiel was behind one of the most iconic film villains of all time as he brought Jaws to life in Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.
And he will be celebrating everything Bond next month when he visits the Bond In Motion exhibition at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.
We caught up with the actor to chat about the exhibition, the legacy of Bond and what lies ahead for him this year.
- You are going to be heading to the Bond in Motion exhibition next month so how much are you looking forward to getting out there and what are you going to be up to at the festival?
Well I am going to be doing plenty of autograph signings and people are going to be able to purchase a photograph or one of my books called Making It Big In The Movies; everyone who does that I take a picture on their camera for free. I love talking to the fans and I have a good time talking to them about James Bond.
- The exhibition celebrates the cars that have been in the franchise over the fifty years - and there have been some great ones - is there one that is your favourite or particularly stands out for you?
The Lotus underwater car is going to be there and we are going to be taking photographs in front of that. They actually have fifty cars from all the different James Bond movies.
I have talked to people who have been there and they say that it is an absolutely beautiful place and a wonderful experience.
- Is it the first time that you have been to the exhibition?
Yes it is the first time that I have been to that particular car museum. But the day before we are going to be at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth; Blanche Ravalec from Moonraker and Caroline Munro from The Spy Who Loved Me will also be there. So there are two events over the weekend and people can go there and experience both.
They will also have the Back to The Future car at Mountbatten as well as some Star Wars memorabilia as well as some other very interesting movie props.
- Jaws is one of the most iconic movie villains of all time so what was it that appealed to you about this character?
Thank you. I was a big James Bond fan and that was why I wanted to get involved. But when they first described the character to me I was a little put off at the thought of a guy who kills people with his teeth.
But I thought that I just had to make the most out of it as I was such a big fan of James Bond.
I grew up as a young man watching Dr No, Thunderball and Goldfinger and I loved all of the beautiful women and the locations and the all the excitement of the gadgets, the cars and the action.
I did figure out how to make this work for me and make it entertaining for the audience.
- And how surprised are you at just how popular this character has been and how he has endured over the years?
I was very surprised, I had no idea. I was a little afraid of even doing it as it looked like it could be a monster role and it turned out to be a wonderful role and he turns into a good guy in the second film as he comes over on to the side of Bond; I couldn’t have asked for anything more than that.
- Bond was such a well established franchise when you came on board so how did you find stepping into this series of films for the first time?
As a matter of fact there was some question as to whether it was going to continue at that time as Cubby Broccoli’s partner wanted to be bought out as he wanted to invest some money in a real estate venture. United Artists did buy him out and partnered with Cubby Broccoli.
He talked that it was pretty much over with and I was just glad to be a part of it continuing on and being alive at the end of The Spy Who Loved Me so I could go on to star in Moonraker.
- And how was your whole Bond experience on The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker?
It was terrific. The director was a great guy and he has a great sense of humour and he incorporated humour and ad-lib acting that I wanted to do.
Roger Moore was such a pleasure to work with and he was such a gentleman. He would let me steal scenes; in fact he would help me do it (laughs).
He had these ad-libs that were so funny; in Moonraker when Lois Chiles drops to the ground from the cable car when I am trying to kill them and they say ’who is that?’ And Roger Moore says ’his names is Jaws’ and she says ’you know him?’ And he says ’not socially, he kills people’.
There was always a wonderful ad-lib line that he would have. When Barbara Broccoli is trying to get away in the van when Jaws was ripping it apart and she grinds the gears and Roger Moore says ‘do you want me to drive?’ (laughs).
- You and Roger Moore clearly had a great working relationship…
We are still good friends and we had lunch together a couple of years ago at The Ivy in London along with Christopher Lee and my wife and Roger’s wife Christina.
He is a wonderful guy and he does a lot of work for Unicef and has in the past raising a lot of money for the poor children in the world. I can’t say enough good things about him. But one thing I will say is that his heart is a lot bigger than his ego.
- And how good a Bond was he when you look back on the franchise now?
He did the most James Bond movies of any of the actors who have played James Bond so he really did have the longevity of success.
- 2012 saw Bond celebrate it's fiftieth anniversary so what is that has made this franchise so enduring?
I think that it is the tender loving care that started off with Cubby Broccoli who was the only on set executive producer that I have ever seen in the business, I have been around for thirty five years.
Usually the executive producer raises the money and then hires people to produce the film but Cubby Broccoli really cared about the Bond films.
He was involved in the casting, supervising the sets and he was on set ever day making sure things were going the way that they were supposed to.
He and his wife would accompany my wife and I on trips to promote the movie all over the world and I became like his adopted son, it was wonderful (laughs).
- Did you ever thing that the franchise would reach fifty years?
No I did not and I am so happy for it. Skyfall has done $1.1 billion and that doesn’t include DVD sales around the world.
Barbara Broccoli also produced a play on Broadway that won eight Tony Awards, that is Cubby Broccoli’s daughter, including Best Musical and so me and my wife are going to go and see that when we are in London.
- Over the years we have seen the franchise change many times so what do you make of Daniel Craig's interpretation of the character?
I love Casino Royale but I like Skyfall the best, it really is one of the best Bond movies, I believe. The villain played by Javier Bardem was absolutely fabulous and really entertaining. I really did enjoy the movie a lot.
- Last year's Skyfall is the biggest movie yet - taking over $1 billion at the global box office - so how thrilled were you to see the franchise enjoy that kind of success and recognition?
I think that it has deserved it for a long time. That happens a lot with big commercial success of very successful commercial actors - it was like Robert Redford who never got an Oscar nomination but in The Way That We Were he looked at Barbra Streisand and told a whole story with his eyes; they are underrated actors because they are so popular.
- You have mentioned already that you have been in the industry for thirty five years so what has kept you acting for so long?
Well the James Bond film really catapulted my career into a high gear and I ended up making films all over the world such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Yugoslavia and I started doing commercials for Japanese milk companies and I did one for the UK.
It opened up doors for me as I went on to make Force 10 From Navarone with Robert Shaw and Harrison Ford. I also did a movie in Rome called L’umanoide and that took us to Israel and so we got to see a lot of the world.
- Not only have you travelled around the world with your career you have worked in different mediums and genres such film, TV and animation as well so how do they all compare?
I really enjoyed doing Disney’s Tangled as it was their first computer animated film and they spent an absolute fortune on it because it was their fiftieth and they wanted to go all out and make it special. I would really encourage your readers to go out and see it as it is a spectacular animated film with romance and humour.
- Finally what is next for you?
Yes I do have a film that we are planning to film this summer called Overlord and it will be my biggest role ever.
I became handicapped after an automobile accident and in this movie I play a handicapped guy who is a multi-billionaire and he lost the use of his legs trying to save the women and children from aliens that killed his daughter. So in the movie he is out to get even with the aliens and stop them from taking over the world.
Richard Kiel will be at the Bond In Motion exhibition at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu Sunday 26th May.
Tagged in James Bond