James Bond will return this week.

It’s been a long road to Skyfall, Bond’s twenty-third outing, and as well as our review and red carpet interviews we had the chance to sit down with the cast and crew of the film and over the next three days we’ll be bringing you the six interviews.

When Naomie Harris joined the cast there was much speculation as to the real nature of her character, obviously she has been tight-lipped in all of the press for the film but she’s on fine form here talking about the film and shaving Daniel Craig.

Huge thanks to Neil Alcock AKA The Incredible Suit for being our man in the thick of it. If you haven’t been keeping up with his epic BlogalongaBond then now is the time to catch up. When it comes to Bond, nobody does it better.

Were you nervous about the scene in which you shave Daniel Craig?

I was a bit nervous, but the producers sent me to barber shop school.  I practiced on balloons, so I was very well prepared! Also we didn’t use a real blade. But it was really great to do that scene, because I’d been doing so much action work up to that point that it was nice to do something intimate, without massive trains and sets falling down and all that.

Did you burst any balloons?

I didn’t burst a single balloon. The false blade was just for insurance!

What was it like working with Daniel?

It was great working with him, because he’s really really down to earth, a really lovely guy and a brilliant actor. He’s at the very top of his game. That’s what you want as a performer, you want people who are brilliant because they help you to raise your game.

What do you think about the way women are represented in Skyfall?

When I was offered the role, Sam and the producers said they wanted to make a real distinction between my character Eve and the Bond girls of the past. Sam said, “I want you to represent the modern woman and I want women to be able to watch you and feel like they respect and admire you and look up to you, because you’re just as capable as Bond.” Things do go wrong for her as the film goes on, but she is a very capable field agent. She’s just as capable as him, and that was a very important reason why I wanted to play the role because I love playing strong, independent women. Anything that helps to foster a better impression of women on screen for me is hugely important because it’s still a male-dominated industry.

Do you think Bérénice’s character harks back to the Bond girls of old?

Well, this is a very modern Bond with classic elements to it. That’s part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary, that you really respect and honour the history of Bond as well as moving it forward, reinventing it, revitalising it. You keep those classic elements like the Aston Martin and the gadgets, and the wry sense of humour is much more apparent in this movie than in Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace. I think the traditional kind of Bond girl is part of that, one of those classic things that they obviously wanted to keep that people enjoy. But I’m happy to offer an alternative view of women as well.

Were you familiar with the Bond films before you were cast, or did you explore them once you knew you were going to be a Bond girl?

No, I definitely didn’t, because what you feel when you’re cast in a Bond movie – as well as complete elation and joy – is that the challenge is so huge because you know there are so many expectations, people have such set ideas about how they see Bond characters. So I think one of the worst things you can do is go back and look at previous Bonds, especially when you’re cast to offer a very original interpretation of that role.