James Bond star suffered horrific injury while filming painful 007 stunt

Alan Cumming at the AARP Annual Movies For Grownups Awards held at Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel on February 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto Rogriguez/Variety via Getty Images)
Alan Cumming has reflected on his painful time in James Bond (Picture: Getty)

Alan Cumming has opened up about his starring role as a James Bond villain in the 90s, and the moment a scene went disastrously wrong.

The Traitors host appeared in 1995 classic GoldenEye, which marked Pierce Brosnan’s first film as 007 alongside Dame Judi Dench, who made her debut as M.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the 60-year-old took a stroll down memory lane to unpack some of his biggest screen moments, including his battle against the superspy.

Reflecting on the scene where his creepy character, Boris Grishenko, died as a result of an explosion caused by liquid nitrogen canisters, he revealed that it was even more painful than it looked on screen.

‘These big gallons of computer coolant, they explode, come on top of me and freeze me to death. Just another day at the office,’ he said.

‘They had a rubber band around my waist that was tying me – so, when the force of it came, I wouldn’t fall down. I would just be basically in the same position as all this stuff came on top of me.

Scottish actor Alan Cumming stars as Russian computer programmer Boris Grishenko in the James Bond film 'GoldenEye', 1995. (Photo by Keith Hamshere/Getty Images)
The Traitors host appeared as Boris Grishenko in the flick (Picture: Getty)
For Editorial Use - Credit Studio Only. Mandatory Credit: Photo by THA/REX/Shutterstock (15072354sm) Film Still from "GoldenEye" Pierce Brosnan ? 1995 United Artists Photo Credit: Keith Hamshere Archival Cinema Stills
It marked Pierce Brosnan’s debut as James Bond (Picture: Shutterstock)

‘What happened was, they chucked the big thing of dry ice out, but it was lumps of dry ice, which then stuck to my head and burned my scalp.

‘I couldn’t move because I had this rubber band around my waist. I’m there going, “Ahhh, owww!” and they realized something was wrong, and then these firemen came on and started scooting my head.

‘It was a nightmare.’

GoldenEye served as Pierce’s first outing as James Bond, six years after Timothy Dalton’s final film, License to Kill in 1989.

Editorial use only. No book cover usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by MGM/Everett/REX/Shutterstock (411370c) Pierce Brosnan DIE ANOTHER DAY - 2002
The flick went on to become a huge success (Picture: Shutterstock)

Despite the long gap between action movies, the flick was a clear success and grossed more than $356million at the box office, with fans and critics praising the instalment.

Dame Judi previously shared her first impressions of her superspy castmate on set, telling People Magazine last year: ‘Be still, beating heart.

‘He was just an adorable man. He was absolutely glorious to work with, and as a person.’

Sir Richard Eyre In Conversation At The BFI
Dame Judi Dench previously spoke of her first impression of Pierce (Picture: Getty)

‘His first day on Bond was my first day,’ she added. ‘But he was Bond! The both of us, I think, [were] pretty jumpy.’

The Mrs Doubtfire actor went on to star in Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day, before Daniel Craig took over the role for Casino Royale in 2005.

Fans are not-so-patiently waiting for any inkling of who could step into that luxe tuxedo next…

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