Is Naomie Harris playing Moneypenny after all?

[Kristatos]

From Den of Geek:

When it was announced that Naomie Harris had signed up for a major roll in the forthcoming Bond movie Skyfall, it was widely thought that she’d be filling the shoes of Miss Moneypenny, the MI6 secretary who’s been a major part of the 007 story for decades.

In January, however, Harris put those theories aside, telling the Mail on Sunday that, “The idea of me being Moneypenny was a good, racy rumour. But Eve is not remotely office-bound. She gets to see plenty of action” – and that appeared to be that.

But eagle-eyed Den Of Geek reader Dominic Philpot noticed an interview on the cover of travel firm Dial A Flight’s promotional magazine, which appears to suggest the opposite. Under the front page banner, “Moneypenny in Paradise!”, Harris spoke at length about a posh resort in the Maldives, and how pleasant the pasta bar is. More pertinently, she wraps up the piece with the following sentence:

“There will certainly be some exotic locations, but as Miss Moneypenny I’ll probably get no further than Pinewood Studios!”

Now, there are two possibilities here: the first, and least interesting, is that it’s a simple mistake – an assumption that Harris is playing Moneypenny when, in fact, she ain’t. But there’s also a tiny possibility that the truth may have accidentally slipped out – that her character, currently known simply as Eve on IMDb, really is Moneypenny, but a version who gets to slip out from behind her desk and brandish a Walther PPK alongside Bond.

That’s certainly something the writers of Skyfall would keep under wraps. So is the cat out of the bag? Until more evidence comes to light, it’s impossible to say for sure. More Skyfall news, though, when we get it.

I dunno, this seems bogus to me. I hope it is, the idea of a kick-ass, gun-toting Moneypenny is just too horrible to contemplate.

[Omega]

I posted a link to the resort story, she took her whole family and was saying how nice the place was she supposedly wrote it.
It seemed low brow even for the new Sony style advertising in Bond.

It could be a MP origin story. MP was a field agent gets injured, loses her nerve, whatever then takes a new jobs sounds stupid to me.

[bjmdds]

IF true, Bond is DONE

[JackWade CIA]

I hope not.

[Kristatos]

MI6 is saying that Harris didn't really write the article, it was some junior sub-editor at the Daily Mail's Travel section writing in her name, later reprinted by Dial-a-Flight. For once, MI6's chumminess with EON actually makes me more inclined to believe them - but that could just be because I want to believe it. If they are right, it doesn't say a lot for EON's message discipline.

[carl stromberg]

Why do Eon always have to be different in their casting of the characters now? Dame Judi's replacement will probably be an alien from outer space.

[katied]

Dame Judi could still work with her disability-it'd be interesting to see M have to deal with being differently abled.



It's amazing to me how secretive they're being about everything having to do with Spyfail. Not saying I think she's Moneypenny for sure, but Naomie Harris is being used as a red herring. to cover up a plot point, I'm not 100% sure what, though.

[Kristatos]

It's amazing to me how secretive they're being about everything having to do with Spyfail. Not saying I think she's Moneypenny for sure, but Naomie Harris is being used as a red herring. to cover up a plot point, I'm not 100% sure what, though.

Lots of people are saying that "Eve becomes Moneypenny" is the big plot twist and EON are trying to keep it a secret. It doesn't seem to be the sort of twist that requires such secrecy - it's hardly up there with the identity of Keyser Soze or Bruce Willis being

Spoiler

dead all along

, is it? I'd just chalk it up to the general paranoia of our age, which sees conspiracies and cover ups under every rock.

[katied]

LOL don't think you need to spoiler teh Bruce Willis thing-that's a 15 year old movie.



If the Eve thing is true, it really is the worst kept secret ever. And, IMO, if it is true , that's pretty lame. If you needed any more truth EON are scraping the bottom of the barrel......Nobody cares about Spyfail and this is their attempt to get people excited. But the secrecy otherwise points to a rather mixed message from EON.

[Omega]

MI6 is saying that Harris didn't really write the article, it was some junior sub-editor at the Daily Mail's Travel section writing in her name, later reprinted by Dial-a-Flight. For once, MI6's chumminess with EON actually makes me more inclined to believe them - but that could just be because I want to believe it. If they are right, it doesn't say a lot for EON's message discipline.

I don't think she wrote the story either however it is weird the story exists at all. using real photos of her and her family (?).
If the eon / MI6 fanboys think Harris field agent as MP is a bad idea or it is a bad idea if the story gets out already it doesn't say a hell of a lot good about spyfall.

It says more about how badly eon is running the show if anybody can put all this together and they sit by doing nothing to correct any of the misconceptions it is going to hurt them. How many causal fans are reading this and think it is completely wrong to use MP like this and will not go to the movie now no matter what. It's not going to be a lot but little by little they are leaving people with bad impressions over the last few months

[Kristatos]

LOL don't think you need to spoiler teh Bruce Willis thing-that's a 15 year old movie.

Yeah, well, you never know. There maybe somebody left who doesn't know, and I didn't see any compelling reason not to put spoiler tags around it.

[Kristatos]

I don't think she wrote the story either however it is weird the story exists at all. using real photos of her and her family (?).

Having done ghostwriting for a living in the past, you'd be surprised how widespread it is. However, now I think about it, it would be odd if Harris didn't have final approval on an article written in her name. Clearly she didn't ask for the Moneypenny comment to be taken out, but that could just be because she read the thing when she was in a hurry and signed off on it like someone ticking the "I accept the terms and conditions" box (does anyone ever read those things?)

[katied]

I remember going to see The Sixth Sense in theaters, and when I got home I was like "Hunh?" and then I figured out that Bruce's character is

Spoiler

a ghost

. The funny thing is, I've seen it a few times since and there are quite a few clues that I've picked up on.

[Omega]

I don't think she wrote the story either however it is weird the story exists at all. using real photos of her and her family (?).

Having done ghostwriting for a living in the past, you'd be surprised how widespread it is. However, now I think about it, it would be odd if Harris didn't have final approval on an article written in her name. Clearly she didn't ask for the Moneypenny comment to be taken out, but that could just be because she read the thing when she was in a hurry and signed off on it like someone ticking the "I accept the terms and conditions" box (does anyone ever read those things?)

You are probably right. I know with software terms and conditions nobody reads them it ought to be criminal to require a legally binding ok to get your email or play a video game.
But why would anyone sign her to a contract for this kind of story if she is not MP? Who the hell cares is some random poorly cast Bond girl goes on vacation with the family at some resort? It makes no sense to sign her or make a story about this if she is not MP. What does make sense is if this story was supposed to come out later in the year to coincide with the movie and there was some sort of screw up.

But lets say all of this is wrong, the story was written before they denied the MP rumor and all of this is a big mistake. The point I would make is how many believe she is MP? Doesn't matter if it is true or not just how many believe it and most do since from before she was cast and nothing has really happened to disabuse the public of this notion bringing it back to how badly eon is running the show.


Another place picked up on the den of geek thing which we were talking about months ago.

http://www.dailyblam.com/news/2012/03/0 ... moneypenny
JAMES BOND: SKYFALL Actress Naomie Harris May be Confirmed as the New Moneypenny
By Pietro Filipponi
Published: March 8, 2012 - 4:20pm
in

Film
Movie News
Rumor Control
Skyfall
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios
Action Adventure
James Bond

After months of rumors about her role in the upcoming 23rd installment of the James Bond film franchise, including an outright denial by Harris herself, it's been solidified that the British actress will be bringing M's personal assistant back to the silver screen.

In SKYFALL, Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

After Entertainment Weekly's announcement that actress Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean, 28 Days Later) had joined the project, speculation arose whether she'd be playing the next 'Bond girl' or if she has been cast as the new Miss Moneypenny; a staple in James Bond mythology who has yet to appear in the origin series that began with Casino Royale.

Even though Harris herself has denied the Moneypenny rumor, it appears she has inadvertently confirmed it as well. Harris authored a featured editorial for The Daily Mail, in which she detailed her favorite tropical locales to visit when away from her hometown of London, and touched upon her role in the upcoming Bond film. The article, titled 'Moneypenny in Paradise' even closes with the line:

"There will certainly be some exotic locations, but as Miss Moneypenny I’ll probably get no further than Pinewood Studios! But if we had the chance, we would return to the Maldives in a heartbeat."

Miss Jane Moneypenny is the confidential clerk and private secretary to M, the head of MI6. She holds the rank of Lieutenant RN, which is a prerequisite rank for this position. She is cleared for Top-Secret, Eyes-Only and Cabinet-Level intelligence reports, the latter of which she is often required to prepare, and in some cases present. M's personal assistant is utterly dedicated to her work, which means she has little time for a social life. A close confidante of her boss, she also enjoys a flirtatious — though never consummated — relationship with 007, whom she understands perfectly. Lois Maxwell was the original actress to play the flirtatious MI-6 secretary, followed by Caroline Bliss, Barbara Bouchet, Pamela Salem and finally Samantha Bond (during the Brosnan-Bond years).

Skyfall is directed by Academy Award® winner Sam Mendes and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his third film as Agent 007 James Bond, Javier Bardem, Dame Judi Dench, Ola Rapace, Helen McCrory, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney and Ben Whishaw. The screenplay is written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan. SKYFALL will begin its worldwide roll-out in the UK and Ireland on October 26th 2012 and in North America on November 9th 2012.
Source:
Daily Mail

[Kristatos]

It seems to be turning into a game of Chinese Whispers, each story building on the last. Now she's definitely Moneypenny, according to this, even though no new information has been added.

[Omega]

Well from the call sheets leaks she is his love interest [spoil]shaving Bond's old gray beard off[/spoil] unless the very early rumors about MP being the first lady Bond sleeps with are true I would doubt she is MP. But then a tacky [spoil]"sexy shaving scene" and "Bond talking about his childhood"[/spoil] may ruin the movie on their own.

[Kristatos]

Well from the call sheets leaks she is his love interest [spoil]shaving Bond's old gray beard off[/spoil] unless the very early rumors about MP being the first lady Bond sleeps with are true I would doubt she is MP. But then a tacky [spoil]"sexy shaving scene" and "Bond talking about his childhood"[/spoil] may ruin the movie on their own.

It certainly sounds dreadful.

[katied]

Reading those spolers I can sum up my feeling thusly: Well, that and a puking smiley.

[Omega]

A news story today from the Telegraph says she is MP. Is the Telegraph a tabloid? I don't see in the interview where they get the MP stuff.

Any way the video has Harris she is boring. If she is MP they got the wrong girl if she is a just a Bond girl they got the wrong girl again.

Harris is known just as Eve at the beginning of 'Skyfall', but as the plot unravels it will become apparent that Eve is the most famous of the Bond girls, Miss Moneypenny. Harris is the first black actress to play the role of M's witty and flirtatious secretary.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film ... l-Eve.html

[Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry]

The Telegraph is the most upmarket of English newspapers.

Skyfall sounds utterly awful and embarrassing.