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“Yes. Very much so,” she says. “I’ve always been very independent and known my own mind. But I don’t stick to anything. It’s my most difficult characteristic and also what I love about myself. I can be totally right in an argument, then realise, actually, I’m totally wrong. And that’s OK. But I must be very difficult to live with.”

So, three meetings, three Naomies; the quiet one who allows others to take centre stage, the passionate chatterbox and the determined careerist who knows what she wants and won’t compromise. “I feel like I have very distinct personalities,” she concedes. “That’s probably quite usual for an actor. Some would say I’m quite serious, but that’s only to people who meet me the first time. My friends would say I’m quite crazy. I think I’m unpredictable.”

A few years ago, Naomie would have seemed like an unpredictable choice for a typical Bond film, but since Craig’s arrival in 2006, producers have worked hard to rebrand the franchise, casting intelligent, strong female leads and Naomie seems like a natural choice. Despite this, at first Naomie didn’t see herself as Bond material.

“When my agent first said I was auditioning as a Bond girl, I was like, ‘I’m 35 – I don’t think it’s very likely.’”

So, Naomie said it first: ‘Bond girl’. Over the 50 years, the debate has raged about Bond and his misogynist tendencies. Things have improved dramatically: when Judi Dench took over as Bond’s boss ‘M’ in 1995’s Goldeneye, the women were no longer there just to look good, have sex with Bond, or die. But the ‘Bond girl’ moniker has stuck, which can still feel, well, a little bit Sixties.

“I don’t mind it at all,” says Naomie. “I know some people think being called a ‘Bond girl’ is an insult but I’m hugely honoured and flattered; so many amazing women have been Bond girls before, and now I’m considered one of them? I don’t see it as anything derogatory at all.

“Anyway, I don’t think it’s a term that holds water now, to be honest, because all the women in the movies have evolved so much. They’re multifaceted, multidimensional, intelligent and equal to Bond.”

The anti-celebrity

It’s clear Naomie is ‘on board’ with Bond. She’s not trying to make excuses; she’s fully embracing the juggernaut and it’s hard not to get excited with her, and for her.

“I feel incredibly grateful,” she says. “No other film has this guaranteed international platform in the way Bond does. It completely changes your career and your standing in the profession. That’s amazing for any actor. Loads of scripts are coming in now and there is more interest in me, so I can go on to play a lot more exciting roles.”

With more roles comes more attention. Is she prepared for fans accosting her in Finsbury Park’s local supermarket?

“People keep telling me life is going to change,” she says. “Two journalists did turn up at my mum’s and try to get a story out of her, but, really, that was it. The next day I was on the bus and no-one recognised me. It’s how you manage it.

“I’m very anti-fame. I am an actress first and foremost. I never ever wanted to be a celebrity.”

But isn’t achieving success as an actress somewhat of a Pandora’s box; once you go there, there’s no turning back?

“I’m quite a lazy actress,” she tells me. “Lots of actresses I know, particularly in LA, will go from job to job to job, and I don’t want to do that. Bond was seven months of shooting – nine months in total with prep; that’s a long period of time to be away from your family and friends. I don’t think that’s a very healthy way of living, which is why I think a lot of actors become unhinged and end up doing drugs or become addicted to sex. It’s really important to balance that with coming home and just doing some ordinary living.”

In a profession that can be fleeting – one day you’re hot, the next you’re not – isn’t it hard to turn down work? “Every actor worries about work,” she says. “Out of the 22 of us who graduated in my year at drama school, I think there are maybe two of us who make a living out of it. The odds are very much stacked against you.

“I still worry about where the next job is coming from, or will it even happen? All of that is completely part and parcel of the job. It takes a certain kind of personality to be able to deal with it, but thankfully I have it. I’m happy to live like this. It doesn’t stress me out so much that I can’t do it.”

I can’t help but wonder why she didn’t pick a less fractious career? Her mother, Lisselle Kayla, was a scriptwriter for EastEnders among other programmes, and her stepfather was a prop handler for a while.

“It’s always been acting,” she says, determinedly. “I’ve always been passionate about it. My mum has been amazing because she’s not from that kind of family and background, but she still said, ‘If that’s what you want to do, I will support you. You can do it. You can achieve anything.’”

This Is Not A Bond Girl