This wouldn’t be the first time someone ended up in the shower with a man after a random message on Facebook, but in the case of Bérénice Marlohe, the man she ended up in the shower with was James Bond.
Marlohe, 33, was just another struggling actress and model, living in a modest Paris apartment and eking out a living with small television roles and beauty campaigns. Then, she read that a new Bond movie was going into production. Lacking an agent, she found director Sam Mendes’ agent on Facebook and randomly submitted her acting reel.
She was eventually called in to meet with casting agents and producers before auditioning opposite Daniel Craig. A few weeks later, she was awarded the part of Sévérine in “Skyfall,” playing an initially reluctant ally of Bond, who helps him out of a jam in a Macau casino.
She also helps the superspy into a steamy shower. Hey, what’s a Bond girl to do?
“When I read that scene in the script, I felt uncomfortable, because the idea of being naked or half-naked, I don’t like that,” says the part-French, part-Asian beauty. “But once you’re on set, you feel very safe, because not everybody sees you. You’re a bit hidden.”
She bonded with Craig using humor, making the scene less uncomfortable to perform.
“I find Daniel Craig an amazing friend, so we were just able to have a lot of laughs before takes,” she says. “We told jokes or pretended to fall. I’m fond of that kind of humor and he is, too, so it made it much easier.”
To get into the mood on set, she listened to lots of Shirley Bassey, who recorded the theme song for three Bond films, including “Goldfinger.”
Marlohe admits that landing such a huge role has already changed her life. She now has an agent and is planning to move to Los Angeles permanently. She learned to speak English fluently growing up, so language is not an impediment to a Hollywood career.
Whatever happens, she’ll forever be linked with the longest-running film franchise in history. Her only disappointment from the experience was what it didn’t give her.
“[In the shower] Daniel kisses me from behind,” she says. “I tried desperately to see him naked, but I never managed to do it.” — Reed Tucker