"It's like a gift," says Javier Bardem on his role in <em>Skyfall</em>, the next James Bond due for release in October. "I'm 43 years old, so I remember going to see the Bond movies with my father and mother." Bardem plays the main baddie - rumoured to be called Silva - to Daniel Craig's 007 and has recently been shooting the film across London. "It's also shooting in Istanbul and some other places I'm not allowed to say. It's amazing to think we're still shooting when we have to be opening in, what, six months." Directed for the first time by Sam Mendes, who Bardem says is "doing a great job", <em>Skyfall</em> apparently sees Bond's allegiance to Judi Dench's M put under strain as her past reveals itself. "He's very, very funny, a great colleague, and so strong," says Bardem of Craig. "He's shooting non-stop and I'm thinking: 'Oh my God, I don't know how you do it'. He's on top of all the stunts, and I go, 'man, if I were you, I would be a mess'. In my opinion, he's a great Bond." The all-important Bond girls in the latest instalment are the English actress Naomie Harris and the French actress and model Bérénice Marlohe. Not surprisingly, neither fall short in the aesthetics department, but Bardem won't reveal whether there are any scenes that might give his wife Penelope Cruz reason to be jealous. "I can't tell you that," he laughs. "It's our little secret." While information detailing <em>Skyfall</em>'s plot is - predictably - difficult to come by, photos taken earlier this month from a scene shot on London's Whitehall road show Bardem in a police officer's uniform, apparently a disguise (he is, after all, the bad guy). Whether it's part of the disguise or not, we'll have to wait and see, but underneath Bardem's policeman's cap sits a rather luxuriant looking blonde wig. It might appear somewhat unusual, but at least it's not as ridiculous as the 1970s-era bowl-cut hairstyle he was forced to wear as the maniacal baddie in the <em>No Country for Old Men</em>. "No, I don't wear his haircut," he says, sounding somewhat relieved. Although he might not appear the type, Bardem seems to be an in-demand villain at the moment. Following his Oscar-winning role in the Coen brothers' film and now Bond, there are rumours he's Ridley Scott's preferred choice as the main antagonist in <em>The Counselor</em> (based on a screenplay by Cormac McCarthy, who also wrote No Country for Old Men). But Bardem is quick to dismiss the Hollywood gossip mill. "If I were going to do every movie that they said I was doing, I'd be filming non-stop, I'd have my body in pieces and would be in different countries doing different roles at the same time," he jokes. "But I know about it, and it would be amazing to work with Scott." Follow <strong>Arts & Life on Twitter</strong> to keep up with all the latest news and events