Playing a James Bond villain

In May I played the villain in a sketch spoofing the James Bond movies. It was part of a medical instruction video. We shot the sketch at a beautiful spa in the western Catskill mountains, a place with wood-paneled walls and a lovely view of the mountains. It was a scene where I am threatened Bond as we play some card game over a gambling table, while stylishly clad folks mill about behind us and a Bond girl hangs on Bond's shoulder.

At the shoot I meant an actor who had a Phd and had studied cognitive and computer sciences - he played Bond - a lady who is originally from Russia - she played the Bond girl - a beekeeper - he was the card dealer - and a host of nice, supportive, patient crew and background extras.

I occurred to me once again that this is one of the things I like most about acting: getting to go to all these interesting locations I would not have visited otherwise, and getting to meet all these funny, fun, creative people. Here's a shot of the scene.

The director kept encouraging me to play the role with cold dispassion and he seemed really enthused by the performance he got out of me. It seems like cold psychopaths are a niche I fill pretty well. We'll see how that plays out.

Until next time, have yourself a nice summer, and thanks for reading.