Scheduled to debut on Friday, the new movie “Defiance” stars actor Daniel Craig as Tuvia Bielski, the leader of a Jewish resistance group fighting Nazis during World War II and Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell in the roles of his brothers and fellow fighters.

During an interview at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, Craig, who has portrayed heroes before in the Bond movies „Casino Royale” and „Quantum of Solace,” said that he had found „Defiance” a very inspiring production and that he knew he wanted to be part of it the minute he had read the story. The latter, which is a real-life one, describes how the Bielski brothers saved 1,200 Jews from the death camps.

The movie was shot in Lithuania over a period of twelve weeks, the location being close to the Belarusian forests where the Bielskis lived and fought against Nazis.

During the filming, Daniel Craig met Tuvia’s son, with whom he talked about living in Lithuania, as the actor said, adding that he deemed it as having been the best thing they could have done, instead of him interviewing Tuvia’s son about his father.

Speaking of his character, Craig said that what he liked about Tuvia was that he was a man rife with contradictions and moral ambiguity, but despite the fact that the Bielskis had done many bad things, what remained most important were the 1,200 people they had helped get through the war.