Bond Star Says Cambodia Trip Inspired Mine Work

The U.N. on Tuesday appointed James Bond actor Daniel Craig as the organization’s first Global Advocate for the Elimination of Mines and Explosive Hazards at a ceremony in Geneva, where the 47-year-old said he became involved in mine-awareness work after filming in an area of Cambodia that had not been cleared of unexploded ordnance.

“There were lots and lots of children around and I know I was nervous—and I don’t mind admitting that—but I just can’t imagine what it was like for the parents of those children,” Mr. Craig said after the ceremony.

Mr. Craig—who has depicted the suave British intelligence agent James Bond since 2005—did not elaborate on his trip to Cambodia, though he was in the country for filming of the 2001 blockbuster “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” which was shot in Siem Reap province.

On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon awarded Mr. Craig his new distinction along with a special license.

“As 007, Mr. Craig had a ‘license to kill.’ Today, we are giving him a ‘license to save,’” he said. Mr. Craig is not the first James Bond actor to visit Cambodia.

In 2003, Sir Roger Moore, who played the superspy in the 1970s and 1980s, traveled to Phnom Penh, where he went mostly unrecognized during a stroll around Wat Phnom.

woods@cambodiadaily.com

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