Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen says he wiped the floor with Daniel Craig at poker

The latest James Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen has revealed how he became a poker ace after spending hours playing cards on the set of Casino Royale to the Sunday Mail.

The 40-year-old Danish star, who plays the evil gambler Le Chiffre in the latest 007 movie, says he wiped the floor with his fellow cast members in behind-the-scenes card games.

Mads, once voted the sexiest man in Denmark, said when it came to poker, he had the upper hand over new Bond Daniel Craig.

In an exclusive interview, Mads said: "The cast got into gambling in a really big way.

"A lot of the film is set in a casino playing poker so we did that as research at first, then went to casinos to see how that works. And we became pretty good at it as a result.

"I like to think I got so good I wiped the floor with everyone but if you asked the rest of the cast they would say they did, too.

"It's like a fishing tale - everyone remembers what they want. But I did get pretty good at it."

Mads, who has been married to Hanne for 20 years, says he loved playing his evil role in the movie.

He said: "Le Chiffre was fantastic. Baddies are interesting, they are full of drama. There is something hidden that is appealing to everyone."

Mads, who has two children, Carl and Viola, revealed his favourite Bond baddie of all time is Christopher Walken, who played Max Zorin in A View To A Kill.

He said: "Christopher is a fantastic villain and a fantastic good guy.

"He's got dualism, which is what it takes to be a good villain - there is something likeable and unlikeable about him at the same time."

The Dane said he did not have to do much preparation before putting on the Bond baddie mantle.

He went on: "If you play a dentist and 80 per cent of your acting is going to be in a dentist's office then you are obviously going to research how to drill teeth but in this case the research was basically in the script.

"I just had to find a character we all liked that was subtle and icy."

Mads also revealed how he enjoyed dressing up in his character's expensive clothes.

He said: "My make-up made me look slightly different, as Le Chiffre has a blind eye. He is vain and wears expensive clothes and just wearing that made a big difference.

"Setting my hair and being very neat about the set was fun and I looked forward to getting into costume."

Mads, who also stars as Tristan in King Arthur with Keira Knightley, made the Bond writers add in extra action scenes for him.

He said: "I got the part and I read the script and thought, 'Where's my action?'

"I am an ex-gymnast and I have been doing stunts all my life so they added more just for me. I have a scene where I gave Daniel a hard time, and I have a scene where someone is giving me a hard time. I didn't get to drive cars over cliffs, sadly!"

Like past villains Jaws, Blofeld and Oddjob, Le Chiffre is sure to be a hit with the kids and Mads' son Carl is already more than impressed with his dad's latest acting job.

Mads said: "He thinks it's really cool. He has never got that thing about me acting but now it's Bond, okay, that's interesting, that's acting."

He was delighted to star opposite Daniel Craig who, he believes, makes the perfect James Bond.

Mads said: "Daniel is a brilliant actor, he is perfect for the part. Bond has been around for many years and this Bond needed a very strong actor.

"Daniel looks like a guy who can kill people with his bare hands and this is the character. He was fantastic, and you could work with him."

Mads admitted he never watched the original 1967 Casino Royale and has never read the book. He said: "I haven't seen the original film, and I didn't read the book.

"I have done several films based on books and I never read them or saw the film.

"This is this script and this film -this is to do with the director, the script and what I come up with."

Mads believes the best thing about being an actor is getting to morph into other people.

He said: "I like the opportunity to be different people.

"I was a dancer for 10 years and before that I was a gymnast. Some-body saw me and asked if I wanted to join a show so I became a dancer and made my living from that then I got tired of that.

"I was fascinated with theatre and more dramatic things instead of this blurry universe of dancing so I decided to try for drama school and I got in."

Despite being a Danish sex symbol, Mads prefers a night at home to a night on the tiles.

He said: "I stay at home with my wife and kids so from one day to another I don't feel I'm a sex symbol. "One day I was just me and no one looked twice at me and the next day I was famous.

"I became famous overnight in Denmark due to a really popular police series called Unit 1.

"It says something about women that one day they aren't looking and the next day they are."

Mads is so popular with the ladies in his home country that one divorced her husband, left her three kids and came after him.

He said: "She kept writing and that was scary. She moved to Copenhagen and lived near me. In the end my wife had to take the phone and speak to her. My wife deals with it really well."

Thanks to `JCRendle` for the alert.

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