Ex-Bond girl praises ‘lovely director’ Crowe at DIFF

Crowe has a reputation for not being the easiest man to work with, but Kurylenko said that she had had a positive experience working with him on her new film, The Water Diviner, directed by the Australian.

DUBAI // Olga Kurylenko walked the Dubai International Film Festival red carpet for the second time on Thursday, attending the international premier of her latest movie, the Russell Crowe-directed The Water Diviner.

Crowe has a reputation for not being the easiest man to work with, but Kurylenko said that she had had a positive experience working with the Australian.

“It was great, Russell is a really lovely director. He really understands an actor because he’s an actor himself,” she said.

“It’s lovely when your director knows what you feel like and gives you your space. He really knows the language.”

Describing her own role in the film, Kurylenko said: “I play a Turkish woman called Aysha. She’s a complex character with a lot of grief and, just like the main character Connor [Crowe], she also lost people she loved in the war. That’s where the two connect.”

Kurylenko shot to fame as a Bond girl in her role in 2008’s Quantum of Solace. The new Bond movie, Spectre, announced its cast last week, including Italian legend, and new Bond girl, Monica Bellucci. Kurylenko had no advice for her latest successor, but she said the role had been pivotal to her own career.

“The change with Bond was that it put me on another level and meant people knew my name,” she said.

“It was a great experience, too, in so far as I learnt lots of action film skills, so I’m more prepared for other movies now.”

The Water Diviner is to be released in UAE cinemas on December 25.