Skyfall’s Bond girl: Bérénice Marlohe

MANILA, Philippines – A James Bond movie is not a James Bond movie without a sexy and mysterious Bond girl.

In Skyfall, the role is essayed by French actress Bérénice Marlohe who is actually half-Asian: her father is Cambodian while her mother is French.

If you’ve seen the latest Bond film and want to know more about Marlohe, here are some facts:

1) She couldn’t get a job in Europe

According to a feature in LA Times, Marlohe struggled to find work since she became an actress 8 years ago.

She was repeatedly rejected because she “didn’t have what it takes to become a movie star.”

Her height was treated as a disadvantage, aside from her Eurasian heritage.

“They would tell me ‘you are too tall compared to the actors, which is not good for you’,” Marlohe, who stands 5 feet 8 inches [or 173 cm] told LA Times.

She was also told that she has “too much personality” and so her presence would be stronger than the lead actress, so she wouldn’t get hired. 

“I didn’t agree with the system,” the Bond girl said.

2) A year before Skyfall began shooting, she put together a reel and headed to LA

“I was so surprised people will give you a chance and consider your work and your potential here,” Marlohe said.

“This gives you a huge feeling of freedom.” 

When a friend told her about upcoming auditions for Skyfall while she was still in Paris, Marlohe took to the web to find contacts: She found director Sam Mendes and casting director Debbie McWilliams’ email addresses on Facebook.

Marlohe went through two auditions and got cast after the second audition with Mendes.

3) Daniel Craig loved working with her

According to LA Times, Craig said in a phone interview that Marlohe “brought a huge amount of depth to what is essentially a very small part.

“She gave her an awful lot of history in the way she played it.” 

James Bond, of course, had a steamy shower scene with Marlohe’s Severine.

Her character may have gotten killed too soon by Javier Bardem’s Silva but, boy, was she memorable.

4) She is also a James Bond fan

The 33-year-old actress watched Bond films as a child.

Her favorite villains were the ones played by Grace Jones and Christopher Walken in A View to a Kill.

She has since been “strongly connected to the Bond universe.”

“You can feel a lot of freedom in creation (sic) [of a character] because it is a world between reality and imagination,” Marlohe said.

5) She was a painter and pianist before becoming an actress

Watch this interview with Marlohe about Skyfall:

She is now working on her next film under Terence Malick opposite Christian Bale and Natalie Portman, and plans to move to Los Angeles from Paris when the publicity tour for Skyfall ends.

She has agents in LA helping her find work, too.

We certainly want to see more of Bérénice Marlohe. How about you? – Rappler.com