Mads Mikkelsen: Rogue One script was unfinished during filming
Mads Mikkelsen has recalled how the script for the Star Wars prequel movie Rogue One was "surprisingly unfinished" during filming.
Mads Mikkelsen has revealed that the script for Rogue One was "surprisingly unfinished" during filming.
The 60-year-old actor played the role of research scientist Galen Erso in the 2016 Star Wars prequel movie and has recalled how frequent changes were made to the screenplay during the course of production.
Mads told Variety: "It kept changing. One would think that that was already done.
"I don't think they ever locked a draft. I think they kept working on it and improvised and went back and reshot stuff and then came up with a better idea, which is kind of liveable for a character like mine. I mean, I had my mission. I knew what it was, but it was obviously tricky for the two young heroes, not knowing exactly what they were carrying into a room of baggage."
Mikkelsen also recalled a scene where water rains down on him being particularly "brutal" to film as he ended up being drenched in freezing cold water.
The Clash of the Titans actor said: "That was a brutal, I would say day, but it was days, because there was a lot of changes in the story.
"We went back and forth, and it was raining. When you do artificial rain, it is almost impossible to do that in a long scene without having ice cold water. So I was lying there, freezing to death, trying to keep my eyes open."
Mikkelsen also played the villain Le Chiffre in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale and revealed that 007 himself Daniel Craig was the only member of the cast who didn't know how to play poker.
The Danish actor said: "He was the only guy in that film who did not know how to play poker, and he ran away with $150 million of my dollars."
Mads previously starred in the 2023 flick Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny as antagonist Jurgen Voller and explained how he achieved a childhood dream with the role.
He told Entertainment Weekly at the time: "When I was a kid, I had no idea that you could end up becoming an actor. I was just watching (these films) like everybody else. It's always been part of me; it's been with me always, so that is a special thing to be part of now, like 40-something years later."
Mikkelsen was honoured to share plenty of screen time with Harrison Ford's Indy and likened his co-star to silent film icon Buster Keaton.
He explained: "Besides that, he's just a fantastic actor. He knows exactly what he's doing wherever the camera is. And he doesn't use enormous means to tell a story.
"For me, he's like Buster Keaton, who kind of invented the close-up. He didn't run to the camera, he made the camera come to him. And it's wonderful to be that close to see him work. It was just a wonderful experience for me."
