Javier Bardem explains how he begged director Sam Mendes to play the iconic James Bond theme music while his character is onscreen in Skyfall. This year’s No Time to Die marked the fifth and final outing of Daniel Craig’s 007. Of his films, many consider 2006’s Casino Royale and 2012’s Skyfall to be the best Craig’s era has to offer. Commemorating Bond’s 50th anniversary, the quasi-meta Skyfall focuses on an aging 007 who’s not quite ready to say he’s lost a step.

By focusing on the relationship between Bond and Judi Dench’s M, starting with a decision that results in 007 being presumed dead, Skyfall dissects what it means to work for crown, country, and MI6. The film amplifies this by introducing Bardem’s villain, Raoul Silva, a former intelligence agent hell-bent on getting revenge against M for leaving him to die; Silva’s attack on MI6 is what brings Bond out of his seclusion. Ultimately, Bond defeats this bizarro version of himself, losing M in the process as she dies in 007’s arms.

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In a Vanity Fair piece, Bardem broke down his career from No Country for Old Men to Skyfall. During the interview, Bardem discussed how surreal it was to be involved in a Bond film. At one point, the Spanish actor couldn’t help but ask Mendes to have the Bond theme music play while Silva is onscreen. Check out the full quote below:

“Working with Sam Mendes is a gift, it’s a joy, it’s amazing. It’s so rewarding in every aspect. And I said to Sam one day, ‘Sam, I love you. Thank you for giving me this chance, it’s been great, but I have one favor to ask. I know that the tone of [imitates Bond music] is gonna be for Daniel, as it should, but just give one [imitates Bond music again] while I’m on screen, please.’ And he gave it to me.”

The “James Bond Theme” is, of course, the signature music tethered to the Bond films and is as recognizable as Stars Wars’ title music or Indiana Jones’ theme. Arguably, much more so. It has been featured in every film since 1962’s Dr. No. Usually, the piece accompanies the gun barrel sequence. However, sometimes, especially in recent years, the music can be heard during momentous scenes. For example, in Skyfall, Bond travels to an abandoned island off the coast of Macau, where he is delivered to Silva. After a stellar, villainous monologue and some brutal target practice, Bond alerts MI6 reinforcements with the latest thing from Q branch: a radio—at which point, the Bond music plays as choppers fly above Bardem’s character.

Bardem’s talent for portraying antagonist characters like No Country for Old Men’s Anton Chigurh certainly translated to Skyfall. Elevated by Bardem’s performance and the dichotomy between his character and 007, one could easily make the argument that Raoul Silva is the most memorable Bond villain of the Craig era. Being two sides of the same coin, it’s poetic that Bond’s theme music would play with Silva on screen. Like Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye (1995), Silva is Bond after a series of very bad days leads him to abandon his moral fortitude and MI6. That being said, it’s clear Bardem is grateful to have gotten to play a Bond villain in a definitive era.

Source: Vanity Fair

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Josh Plainse is a writer, movie, and television fanatic based out of Wisconsin. Josh works for Screen Rant covering the latest in entertainment while simultaneously pursuing the never-ending dream of becoming an established novelist, screenwriter, and/or decent human being. Josh would accredit characters such as Goku, Han Solo, Simba, and Maximus Decimus Meridius for instilling within him an affinity for storytelling. It is this incessant obsession which has propelled him to seek opportunities that inform, entertain, and inspire others.

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