Mexican actress Stephanie Sigman is in the spotlight as Estrella, Mexico's first Bond girl, in the upcoming 007 drama Spectre. But will we actually see her performance when the film opens in Australia in November?
Sigman was cast after the blockbuster film had already shot in London, Austria and Rome with other Bond girls opposite Daniel Craig, including Italian actress Monica Bellucci (at 50, the oldest yet) and French star Lea Seydoux. Her casting was reportedly part of a package of concessions offered by the production in exchange for the Mexican government's $US20 million investment, all tailored to ensure a favourable pre-title sequence filmed in Mexico City.
It was important, reports suggested, that the sequence feature a Mexican Bond girl, not a Mexican villain.
"I don't know why this became an issue," retorts producer Barbara Broccoli when asked about those reports during a Fairfax visit to the set in Mexico City. "This script had been in existence for a long time and we were always doing a Day of the Dead parade, so of course (director) Sam Mendes wanted to create the scene where it happens, in one of the greatest cities in the world."
Whatever the background to Sigman's casting, her fate is far from guaranteed.
According to Tim Grieve's 2002 book The Bond Women: 007 Style, not all Bond girls have made the final cut. Las Vegas performer Kippy Lou Brinkman was excised from the Las Vegas scenes in Diamonds are Forever (1971), Austrian model Kim Andrea Stockinger was ditched from the Vienna sequence in The Living Daylights (1987), Marya Morgan was cut from a scene as a news anchor in Licence to Kill (1989), and German models Anja Jensen and Sophie Schutt failed to make the final assembly of an action scene shot in Hamburg for Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).
But Sigman doesn't appear worried. "You never know with the editing, but of course I hope to be in the film at the end, and I do believe that it's going to happen," says the stunning Mexican-born brunette, best known for a recurring role in the US series The Bridge.
From where we're talking, on the balcony bar of the Gran Hotel overlooking Mexico City's famous Zocalo central plaza, we have a clear view of the spectacular sequence being shot below with the help of 400 crew from the UK, 1000 local crew, and 107 make-up artists.
About 1500 Mexican extras, all in Day of the Dead costume and make-up, are crammed into the square, which is closed to the public. As Mendes shouts "action", a military-style helicopter piloted by famous stuntman Chuck Aaron flies between buildings, twists and turns and finally lands in the square.
"My dad always said to leave the money on the screen," Barbara Broccoli says proudly, referring to her father Cubby Broccoli, who produced 16 Bond films and was considered the godfather of the franchise. "We've done some pretty amazing opening sequences before but I think this is our biggest and best."
Will Australia get a chance for a close-up of its own in a Bond film?
"We've been to Australia many times on the promotional tours, and every time we are there we keep saying that we have got to come and create a sequence there," Broccoli teases. "So maybe on the next film."
