007 Days of Bond: The secrets behind Bond action scenes

From Roger Moore jumping off a mountain with a union jack parachute to Daniel Craig's freerunning chase in 'Casino Royale', Bond films are famed for the their epic action sequences.

These days the job of dreaming them up falls to Gary Powell, the stunt coordinator for all of Craig's Bond films, including the upcoming 'Skyfall'. We had a chat with the 007 veteran, who told us some behind-the-scenes stunt gossip.

[007 Days of Skyfall: Day 1 - Meet the cast]
[007 Days of Skyfall: Day 2 - The secrets behind James Bond's drinking]

He revealed to us that…

The Istanbul sequence seen in the 'Skyfall' trailer, with Craig pursuing a goon on a motorbike in a digger and finally by foot on top of a train, was at least 90 per cent the real Daniel Craig, rather than one of his many stunt doubles. "He was up there at the top of the train, going across a bridge 300 foot high at 40-50mph, running and fighting. Very few actors would actually do that". However, when Bond is accidently shot by Naomie Harris' Eve, it was a stunt guy who fell off the bridge. Funny that.

We reckon most actors who "love doing their own stunts" are liars, but it seems Craig is that masochistic. "I knew I could put Daniel on top of a speeding train and he would say 'yeah I'll give that a go'. He says to us: 'you just go and dream it up, and figure out where you'll put me'.

The biggest worry for filming the train scene wasn't 007 falling off a carriage, but running over children. "We're shooting in places that have never seen a film crew, let alone a James Bond film crew, and every kid in that town wanted to be a part of it, so we needed people to block out the road to stop them running onto the track."

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[Related video: Watch the 'Skyfall' trailer]

The pressure to outdo the previous Bond films is intense on set. This time it was the on-train digger and riding motorbikes across rooftops that was uncharted territory, stunt-wise. "We always try and push something new. Bond films really kicked off the modern action scene. 'Dr. No' was so far in advance of anything else at the time so we have to keep this up."

When Powell dreams up Bond action sequences, he hums Monty Norman's classic theme tune to get the right vibe. "Everyone on set is a huge Bond fan, even the caterers," he said.

Gary Powell began his career as Pierce Brosnan's stunt double in 'GoldenEye'. "I look nothing like him, but one scene I did was in a tank and the other was a boat. Luckily both were going so fast you couldn't tell it was me." His family has been working on the franchise for years, and Powell's first experience on a Bond set was 'The Spy Who Loved Me'. He made the tea and was allowed to fire off machine guns as a reward. It's unlikely Health and Safety would've approved.

Much of the tube chase/crash sequence in 'Skyfall' was filmed in a little used section of King's Cross underground station. Transport For London was surprisingly relaxed about the team creating a massive tube accident.

While filming the underwater fight under ice (again glimpsed in the trailer), the actors (Craig and one of Silva's henchmen) could only shoot for around 10-20 seconds at a time because it was so exhausting. It also messes with the ears to keep coming in and out of water, so the duo had to stay mostly under water for two days while they finished the scene, breathing through tubes. "Daniel definitely had a good night's sleep afterwards."

After 007 jumps off the digger, you might notice him shoot his cuffs after landing on the train carriage. Craig improvised it. "He comes up with that stuff all the time. He knows how the character will react. We leave it up to him."

Watch the action-packed trailer below: