`Quantum` stuntman Derek Lea talks about his fight with 007

He's smashed his shoulder, broken both legs, fractured his pelvis and set fire to his face and hands. It’s all in a days work for professional stunt man Derek Lea - reports The Sun.

But the Quantum of Solace star is the first to admit the real British heroes are Our Boys and Girls fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

He is one of the most experienced stuntmen in the world, providing death defying tricks on numerous Hollywood blockbusters.

His latest cinema role saw him fighting Daniel Craig in the last 007 film, before plunging from the top of building and through the roof of a car.

But Derek, 45, says he has nothing but awe and admiration to for troops on the front line: “Being a stuntman has its dangers but what they are doing out there is astonishing. They don’t know where the next attack is coming from and that must be a hard environment to live in.”

Derek knows a thing or two about the dangers of warfare after working with Steven Spielberg on WWII epic Saving Private Ryan.

“Now there’s a director who is all about authenticity. He made sure absolutely everything happened as it would in the real event.

“In one stunt I was on a landing craft which catches fire. I was the last in a group of twenty blokes to go up like a match, but because I was at the back I couldn’t put myself out.

“You wear a silicone suit and get covered with flammable liquid, with a tube in your mouth to breath. You have only about 20 seconds before you’re in big trouble and I started to cook.

“I’ve still got the scars to prove it.”

In the latest Bond movie Lea plays a villain who takes on Daniel Craig in a rooftop brawl.

“We run into each other on the roof and he has me by the throat and dangles me over the edge.

“When he asks me who I am and what I’m doing I tell him to p*** off. Then he drops me off the roof. I enjoyed that film because there were only two swear words in the entire script and I got one of them. Judi Dench got the other one.”

In his twenty years as a top stunt Derek has seen a lot of changes to the industry.

“These days in movies there’s a lot of reliance on CGI, but unless it’s done on a huge budget it just doesn’t beat the real thing.

“Lord of the Rings was the first time CGI started to look really special and convincing, but even now when I see I film I can tell when they’ve not had a big enough budget for the computer graphics stuff.

“The best thing about Quantum of Solace is the director used real stunt men for the action so it all looks absolutely top drawer.

“The fact that there were so many accidents on the set during the making of the film indicates who much action there is.

“For action I think this is definitely the best Bond film yet.”

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