By Chaz Lipp

I recently had a great chat with actor Rick Yune, who ten years ago portrayed the villain with diamonds embedded in his face, Zao, in Die Another Day. That film, the 20th James Bond release, marked not only the final time Pierce Brosnan was Agent 007, but also the 40th anniversary of Bond on the big screen.

Now we’ve reached the 50 year mark, and with Skyfall due in U.S. theaters November 9 (October 26 in the U.K., click the official website for full international release schedule) the franchise is obviously still going very strong.

As MGM Studios and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment prepare to unveil their landmark 22-film Blu-ray collection Bond 50, which collects all the official Bond films to date in high definition for the first time (nine films are making their Blu-ray debut), I was thrilled to hear some first-hand memories from one series’ many memorables villains.

Here’s the catch – you have to click over to The Morton Report for my full interview. It’s definitely worth taking a look! Rick talks about the “impact the Bond films have in the world” and just how cool it is to be part of the Bond legacy.

And to tide you over, here’s a little something from Rick that you’ll only find right here – his reflections on working on mega-budget productions like Die Another Day, and some of the smaller-scale film productions he has been part of.

Rick Yune: My first film, Snow Falling on Cedars, was more along the lines of that independent type of film, although it was made by The Kennedy/Marshall Company [Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall]. They did Steven Spielberg’s top five highest-grossing movies. You know, at the end of the day, it’s about bringing yourself. So even if it’s a big budget movie, or a small independent, you have to find yourself in the role and in the movie and bring your own elements to it. 
For more, click over to The Morton Report. Keep an eye out for part two of my discussion with Rick Yune, coming soon to The Morton Report (with a few exclusive tidbits right here at Cinema Lowdow), which focuses on his role in the upcoming The Man with the Iron Fists (November 2), RZA’s directorial debut, presented by Quentin Tarantino.
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Chaz Lipp

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