Swiss actor Anatole Taubman has confirmed he is to play a henchman in the 22nd James Bond film...

Anatole Taubman Is Bond 22 Henchman
12th December 2007

Following hot on the heels of French actor Mathieu Amalric who confirmed that he is to play the villain in the 22nd James Bond film, Swiss actor Anatole Taubman yesterday confirmed on national television that he has signed to play a henchman in Daniel Craig's second outing as 007.

Taubman, 36, confirmed to SF TV show "Glanz & Gloria" that he signed his contract to appear in Bond 22 on Thursday 6th December. His road to Bondage started a month ago, when he screentested for the role. As part of the process, Taubman said he had to talk a little about himself and play a scene twice in front of eight people. He heard the "OK" from Sony on his casting three weeks ago. "For the European's, a role in a James Bond movie as a golden ticket," he said. "There is nothing better, I am overjoyed. I want my family to ride this Bond wave with me, whether it's my penthouse suite while in London or in South America.". Contractually, everything is covered. "I can take my family to all of these places in the world flown First Class". Local news coverage revealed some interesting tidbits - shooting is reported to take place in Bregenz, Austria in January. Taubman was careful not to reveal many details about his character or the story, but he did confirm that he has been assigned a personal trainer and the role will include a lot of action as well as dialogue scenes. He is expected to film from January until June - a sure sign his character will have a strong presence in the plot.

Above: Swiss actor Anatole Taubman, who has confirmed his casting in Bond 22.

On the subject of director Marc Forster, Taubman said "We got along very well during the casting and we have a lot in common."

With Mathieu Amalric confirmed as the villain, major casting for Bond 22 is just lacking the girls. Details on Amalric and Taubman's villainous characters are yet to be revealed, but either of them could be Vesper Lynd's "Algerian boyfriend" mentioned in Casino Royale. Eva Green gave some potential clues when "Casino Royale" was released. Back in November 2006, Green said, "[Vesper Lynd] had an Algerian boyfriend, and she's been sent on this mission, and then she begins to feel guilty. She's in love with Bond. It's a deep love. The Algerian boyfriend was something light, an affair. So there's an internal conflict. The plan is, the Algerian boyfriend is going to be the baddie in the second Bond, and we'll understand [better]. But you don't have to think about it too much. "

Biography
Anatole Taubman has starred in over 50 films and as a cosmopolitan his work as an actor spans throughout the United States, England, Germany and Switzerland. Having been born in England and growing up in Switzerland, Taubman is trilingual (English, German and Swiss German). In recent years, he has starred in POW (Prisoners of War) and Foyle's War, 'They Fought in the Fields' as Raimund Weiser. He has played main and key roles in no less than 5 movies in Switzerland, for one of which (Mein Name ist Bach) he has been nominated for the Swiss Oscar (Swiss Film Prize, for role as Friedemann Bach in Jagged Harmonies). His Hollywood credentials include "Æon Flux", and can be seen next in "Taken" (2008). Taubman lives in Berlin.