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"Sam Mendes has praised the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. The Skyfall director was particularly impressed with the Queen&amp;#039;s starring role in the celebration. The 86-year-old monarch appeared alongside Bond star Daniel Craig, in a sketch that saw her greet Mr Bond before &amp;#039;parachuting&amp;#039; from a helicopter.      The director was full of acclaim for creative director Danny Boyle, but admitted that he would be too nervous to step up to such a challenge himself. &amp;quot;I loved it. Of course I knew that that was being shot. Danny was down on the set a couple of times and I was aware of it all going on. &amp;quot;I said, &amp;#039;I&amp;#039;m staying out of it!&amp;#039; I&amp;#039;ve got enough to worry about without four billion people watching whatever it is!&amp;#039; &amp;quot;But I thought it was amazing. And also a good promo for the movie! It was an act of brinksmanship that went spectacularly right.  &amp;quot;When I heard about it through Danny and Daniel, I thought, &amp;#039;Okay, that&amp;#039;s a hell of a knife-edge to walk&amp;#039;, with the real Queen - who I think Danny directed with great elan.&amp;quot; The director has admitted that the great success of the London 2012 Olympics have made him very proud to be British. Speaking to Empire, he said: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s just one of those wonderful periods in the history of London, and Great Britain. And it feels like Bond is part of that and I&amp;#039;m proud to be part of that tradition. &amp;quot;Bond, interestingly this year, chooses to come back to England quite a lot. It feels like Bond returning home.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/london-2012-olympics/news/a404785/sam-mendes-i-loved-the-olympic-opening-ceremony/>