Daniel Craig and Rami Malek shared steamy kiss on set of new James Bond film No Time To Die
Daniel Craig (L) and Rami Malek (R). (Getty/FilmMagic)
Things can get complicated on a film set – emotions can run high and people can do things that are out of character.
That might help to explain how Daniel Craig and Rami Malek ended up sharing a passionate kiss on the set of their new James Bond film No Time To Die.
The film, which was delayed numerous times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has finally been released in cinemas – and that means fans are reflecting on Rami Malek’s admission about a steamy on-set kiss.
During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2019, Malek heaped praise on Craig as his “favourite” Bond actor – and he dished the details on a particularly challenging scene they worked on together.
“We had a scene that was a very complicated scene and we were rehearsing for it with our terrific director,” Malek told Colbert.
“We were sitting at a table over hours just batting about ideas, back and forth, and we finally cracked this really challenging scene.
“And he grabbed me, picked me up – and I can’t tell who initiated the next moment, whether it was him or I – but a kiss transpired between the two of us.
“I’m going to say that Daniel initiated it, and I was very taken aback.”
When asked by Colbert if the kiss was welcome, Malek said: “Yes, very much so.”
He continued: “And I took a moment, caught my breath, looked down and said, ‘So, does this make me a Bond girl?'”
The kiss between the actors will likely come as a surprise to fans – both men are reportedly straight and are in relationships with women.
No Time To Die on-set kiss isn’t the only queer moment in James Bond history
Sadly, the kiss wasn’t caught on film – and it doesn’t appear in No Time to Die – meaning Bond fans will have to use their imaginations to conjure up the image of Malek and Craig sharing an intimate moment.
If the kiss had made it into the film, it wouldn’t exactly have been the first queer moment in a James Bond film. A famous homoerotic scene in the 2012 film Skyfall showed Craig’s Bond tied to a chair by MI6 agent and cyberterrorist Raoul Silva, played by Javier Barden.
In the incredible scene, Silva tells Bond a long anecdote about rat cannibalism before he sits down opposite him and starts to unbutton his shirt and stroke his neck and chest. He eventually moves down to Bond’s thighs.
“You’re trying to remember your training now… well, there’s a first time for everything,” Silva says.
Bond replies: “What makes you think this is my first time?”
No Time To Die has finally been released in the UK after numerous delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was among the first major entertainment casualties of the pandemic when its planned release in March 2020 was scrapped due to the escalating public health crisis.
