007 Days of Skyfall: The Cast – All you need to know

We're only a week away from the release of some little indie movie called 'Skyfall', and to celebrate, Yahoo! Movies is running (00) seven days of features, clips and exclusives to take us up to the film's release.

First up, who's starring in the thing? What have they said about Bond? And which one once played a snail? Find out all this and much more below…

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Daniel Craig - James Bond

A blue-eyed, blonde-haired Bond? That'll never work… Three movies and seven years in, Craig has made 007 his own, reinventing the British hero with ruggedness and serious screen presence. The best actor to play Bond, one day he may be thought of as the best Bond.

Top trivia: He sliced a fingerprint off while filming 'Quantum Of Solace'.

Talking Bond: "When [Bond producer Barbara Broccoli] rang me to tell me I'd got the part, I was buying dishwashing tablets in Whole Foods. I promptly dropped them and went and bought a bottle of vodka!"

Talking Bond #2: "It's amazing how many times I've sat in interviews… and it's 11 o'clock in the morning and someone sends a Martini over [laughing]. And it's like, really? It's 11 o'clock! Cheers! I'm not going to drink it."

Also seen in: 'Enduring Love', 'Layer Cake', 'Cowboys And Aliens'

Judi Dench — M

Dench's screen time in the Bonds has steadily increased since her first outing as the MI6 supremo in 1995. In 'GoldenEye' M was virtually a cameo, but in 'Skyfall' she's got just as many lines as Bond and is central to the plot. A far cry from 'As Time Goes By'.

Top trivia: According to IMDB, her first acting role was playing a snail in a school play.

Talking Bond: "The Bond films are iconic. You waited for the new Bond film and you went to it. I remember going years and years ago and my husband was a huge Bond fan, and was excited to think he had a Bond woman in his family."

Talking Bond #2: "I've enjoyed it hugely because my grandson is 15, and he and his friends just love it."

Also seen in: 'Mrs. Brown', Shakespeare In Love'

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Javier Bardem — Raoul Silva

After two weak villains in a row ('Casino Royale''s Mads Mikkelsen and 'Quantum''s Mathieu Amalric), Bond chiefs went back to drawing board and hired the best baddie in Hollywood. He may have won an Oscar for his terrifying Anton Chigurh in 'No Country For Old Men', but Javier Bardem's barmy ex-spook-turned-cybervillain in 'Skyfall' is memorable in his own right. Trust us.

Top trivia: He doesn't drive, once saying in an interview "turning is too complicated for me".

Talking Bond: "Some of the most beautiful memories I have with my family was when I was a kid and I went to the theatre to see all these [Bond] movies… I would say it was one of the first experiences of really having this experience, of seeing amazing movies, amazing stories on screen."

Talking Bond #2: "Listen, many Bond villains have been beautifully made, and I'm the one to discover the fire."

Also seen in: 'No Country for Old Men', Vicky Christina Barcelona'

Berenice Marlohe — Severine

Sexy, intense and with a hint of danger, Marlohe's slinky Severine is a vintage Bond girl. It's easy to forget that the French actress was toiling away in obscurity, slumming it with bit parts in indie movies and French TV before landing the 'Skyfall' gig. We're glad she did.

Top trivia: She didn't have an agent before 'Skyfall', hustling her way to the part herself.

Talking Bond: "With the Bond movies, you never really see nudity anyway. They're quite chaste, actually. Which is, to me, the best way. Nowadays you see too many naked women, all the time, everywhere."

Also seen in: Nowt

Naomie Harris — Eve

Harris' mysterious Bond role has generated quite a bit of speculation… which we're not to going ruin for you. It's a belter of a part though, and Harris — who's been acting on stage and screen since she was nine - deserves a '00' rating just for keeping it so tightly under wraps.

Top trivia: She studied at Cambridge, but hated it.

Talking Bond: "I've been... firing machine guns [in preparation for Bond], which I discovered I had a real taste for."

Also seen in: The 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' franchise, 'White Teeth'

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Ben Whishaw — Q

There's a new Q. Whishaw's one of those 'I'm sure I recognise him' actors thanks to an impressive but low-key career. His version of MI6's quartermaster is a world away from Desmond Llewelyn or John Cleese, most obviously because he's considerably younger. As Bond points out, he "still has spots". As you'll see in 'Skyfall' though, this Earl Grey-drinking computer genius gives as good as he gets.

Top trivia: He ferociously guards his private life, but once let slip that his mum worked at John Lewis.

Talking Bond: "[On Q] He's slicker this time. He's still an eccentric, jovial English chap but, because of the genius he has, there's a lethal, powerful side to him."

Talking Bond #2: "You have to sign a confidentiality agreement which, if you broke, your life would not be worth living."

Also seen in: 'Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer', 'The Tempest', 'Layer Cake' (opposite Daniel Craig)

Ralph Fiennes — Gareth Mallory

Not content with playing Voldemort in 'Harry Potter', acting royalty Fiennes has muscled his way into another mega-franchise, this time playing secretive mandarin Mallory in 'Skyfall'. Joking aside, it's about time one of Britain's best thesps joined forces with the country's most treasured film franchise. We hope he sticks around.

Top trivia: He was reluctant to play Voldemort because he "never bought into [the] world of Harry Potter", but changed his mind when he saw the villain's concept art.

Talking Bond: "I used to be a complete nerd about the [Bond] books and the detail in them. They are fantastic. There was Fleming's obsession with different kinds of champagne and caviar. He kind of fetishises these things."

Also seen in: The 'Harry Potter' series, 'Schindler's List', 'In Bruges'