007 First Light's Q says teaching Bond to tie a bow tie was a 'very little special relationship moment' for the characters | Tech Radar
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007 First Light's Q says teaching Bond to tie a bow tie was a 'very little special relationship moment' for the characters
"These are all human interactions that make this game"
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Actor Alastair Mackenzie says the scene in which his character, Q, teaches Bond to tie a bow tie was a "key moment"
He says it was a "very little special relationship moment"
Mackenzie adds that the stories like that of 007 First Light are all about "humanity"
The actors behind 007 First Light's supporting cast have revealed the most memorable moments between their characters and James Bond.
In an interview with Tech Radar Gaming at an event adjacent to Summer Game Fest 2026, the cast of IO Interactive's Bond game, including Alastair Mackenzie, Priyanga Burford, Lennie James, and Noémie Nakai, sat down to discuss the filming process and how they brought their characters to life.
First Light is a cinematic action-adventure game and a prequel origin story for Bond, so there are plenty of moments where he interacts and grows his relationships with the cast.
Mackenzie, who plays Q, recalls the scene in Vietnam where Bond is struggling to tie his own bow tie before heading off on his mission, and Q helps him in an almost paternal way. It's a lovely moment, and one the actor himself found the most memorable.
"I had to teach him how to tie a bow tie, which I mean, I don't know if you ever tried, but it's impossible," Mackenzie said. "It's a really nice moment between Bond and Q, where he presents him with his tie, and he doesn't know what the f*** to do, so he teaches him how to tie [it]. So that was a little key for me; that's very, very little special relationship moment."
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Burford, who plays M, also touched on a "beautiful" moment with reluctant allies Bond and John Greenway early on in the story that demonstrated Bond's character development.
"For me, there was one [scene] where Bond is really angry with Greenway, and he wants to kick the whole thing down and finish it," she said. "And there's a beautiful bit where it's sort of teaching someone how to handle their emotions and how to regulate and step out of an emotional state as a young person might do; someone impulsive who gives in to their anger and looks at the situation from a bit of a wider perspective.
"Instead of getting angry, what can this guy teach you? What do you want them to pick and try and think about it that way. And that, for me, was a good clue about what this dynamic was, and [what] M's approach was."
Mackenzie added that these stories are all about "humanity" and something he believes isn't shown very often in gaming.
"These are all human interactions that make this game," he said. "There's a sort of visceral nature to it, where you're connecting on a human level, which I think doesn't happen in every game, does it? I mean, it's not something that is normal in gaming stories."
007 First Light is out now on Play Station 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is expected to launch later this year.
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Demi is a freelance games journalist who helps cover gaming news at Tech Radar. She's been a games writer for five years and has written for outlets such as Game Spot, NME, and Games Radar, covering news, features, and reviews. Outside of writing, she plays a lot of RPGs and talks far too much about Star Wars on X.
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