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In the new James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough, opening Friday, Carlyle plays Renard, a psychopath bent on world domination.
"My dad used to take me to all the Bond movies when I was a child. Sean Connery was my hero because he was the only one in the movies who sounded like me," says Carlyle, the star of such movies as The Full Monty and Ravenous.
"When I got this Bond movie, my father was just over the moon."
Carlyle was always a fan of the Bond villains and his favourite was Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld from You Only Live Twice.
"It's the reason I shaved my head," he says. "It's a homage to Donald Pleasence. At first, there was talk about Renard having a hawk just like Donald had a cat.
"I was terrified the thing would peck my eyes out or weigh down my shoulder, so I was relieved when the pet thing was scrapped."
Carlyle admits without hesitation he did none of his own stunts.
"They tell you they need you for the next day, so you just have to sit back and watch someone else risk their life.
"Pierce Brosnan has seven stunt men. I just had this one wee little guy with a shaved head who did all mine."
Carlyle also appears as the abusive father in the powerful drama Angela's Ashes.