There's a good reason for the chemistry between Marton Csokas and Eva Green in The Luminaries… they were once a couple in real life.
We can reveal former Bond girl Eva and her co-star enjoyed an intense four-year relationship.
They fell for each other after starring in 2005 epic Kingdom of Heaven. But the couple split in 2009, with Eva saying: “It can be difficult to keep a relationship going when you’re apart, filming.”
Now the former lovebirds have been thrown together in dramatic TV scenes.
In the third episode of BBC hit The Luminaries, viewers saw Eva’s villainous character Lydia Wells expressing her love for scheming Francis Carver, alias Csokas.
She is then seen cradling the shirtless hunk, 53.
A show source said: “Their chemistry was electric. You can tell they have had a very close relationship.”
When asked if they were back together, the pair – who also played man and wife in 2014’s Sin City 2 – declined to comment.
But in a recent interview Eva, 39, suggested she was spending lockdown alone in Normandy – and said she likes nothing more than curling up with her “ridiculously clever and sensitive” miniature schnauzer, Winston.
Eva shot to fame as Vesper Lynd in 2006 Bond movie, Casino Royale.
She has also starred in Tim Burton films Dark Shadows and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and the TV series Penny Dreadful.
But Eva says the flamboyant characters on screen are a far cry from her true persona.
She explains: “Lots of people see me as either the girl from Bond, or the ‘gothic’ person, but neither is representative of all my work, or of me. I sometimes wish I had the balls that some of my characters have. I am a courageous person as well but too polite, perhaps.
“I’m not the most social person. I wish I could be more outgoing, but it’s just not me.”
Eva and twin sister Joy were born in Paris. Dad Walter was a Swedish dentist and mum Marlène a French actress.
Marlène still frets about Eva, who is now based in London, chasing her dreams in the murky world of Hollywood.
“She worries,” Eva said. “It’s a ruthless business. She just wants me to be happy.”
