Craig wasn’t originally looking forward to playing 007.
Photo: frame of the film.
“ALL I WANT IS TO WIN”
Daniel Craig’s biography is standard, if not boring. Born in the English city of Chester, his mother was an art teacher, his father served in the merchant navy (and later became a senior mechanic and then the owner of a couple of pubs). He started acting on stage in school productions when he was six years old. Over the years, he took acting more and more seriously, at 16 he entered the National Youth Theater, went on tour with his troupe (arriving, among other things, in Moscow) … “All I wanted was to make a living.” he tells him of his youth. – I no longer wanted to work as a waiter, and I have been doing it since I was 16 years old. I thought that if I succeed, if I can afford a rented apartment, this is already a success. Believe me, I am the most ordinary mere mortal.
In the early ’90s, he began acting in movies and on television, gradually landing more and more serious roles. In the new century she was in Sam Mendes’ Damned Road, Steven Spielberg’s Munich, Ian McEwan’s Patient Love, and she, too, teamed up with Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft. And anyway, if you ask a passerby on the street at that moment who Daniel Craig is, it is not a fact that he will give you an answer. But in 2006 everything changed: Craig, designated as the new James Bond, became a superstar.
Today, Daniel, whose net worth is $160 million, can afford to rent any house anywhere in the world. But he actively dislikes the role that brought him wealth and fame. After the release of Spectre, he stated in an interview that he would rather slit his wrists than play Bond again. And in another interview – that if he agrees to play Bond again, “it will only be for the money.”
Well, he was paid $25 million for No Time To Die. And another reason she agreed to star in it was the chance to kill Bond in the finale.
In the early ’90s, he began acting in movies and on television, gradually landing more and more serious roles.
Photo: EASTERN NEWS
INCREDIBLY EMOTIONAL PERSON
Craig was initially reluctant to play 007. Producer Barbara Broccoli recalled that he had to be “lured” into Casino Royale. In addition, the public was not at all sure that the blonde actor, not so tall (178 centimeters) and with a somewhat proletarian appearance, could fit into the image associated with the refined Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. The British press mocked Craig, calling him “James Blond”, some fundamentalists called for a boycott of the new film and created the site craignotbond.com (“Craig is not Bond”), where they demanded to bring another artist. I had to enlist the help of previous Bonds: Connery and Brosnan said they supported Craig’s casting for the role. And in the end, the viewer voted with a dollar: Casino Royale grossed more than half a billion at the box office, becoming the highest grossing film about 007. And some also consider it the best in history.
Recently, in an interview with The Times, Craig admitted that he was sincerely sure that “Casino” will be the first and last film in which he will play Bond. “We were returning with Bárbara from the premiere in Berlin, and at that moment we already knew that we had a success on our hands. I realized how huge this whole project was and asked Barbara, “How much more? three movies? Four?” She replied: “Four!” “And then I can deal with him?” And she said yes.
Craig admitted that he was sincerely sure: “Casino” will be the first and last film in which he will play Bond
Photo: EASTERN NEWS
There was little joy in this project. “Shooting a Bond movie is a seven-day-a-week job for six or seven months. We mostly film, I spend the afternoons in the gym or rehearsing, and on Sundays or other days that I have scheduled off, I rehearse tricks. That is, I try to keep the weekend intact, I need to rest, but this does not always work. And, if there is free time, there is always something to talk about, for example, discussing the script again…”
So he finished off Bond with relief. And then, saying goodbye to the film crew and his colleagues at the end of the shoot, he almost burst into tears. And then he admitted: “I am an incredibly emotional person. I’m an actor. I make my living with this. And at that moment I realized that the end of 15 years of my life had come, in which I had invested everything I could. If at that moment he hadn’t started to suffocate me a bit, he would have been a psychopath. I hope I’m not a psycho!”
And in general he is doing well: he is happily married to the beautiful and excellent actress Rachel Weisz, raises a daughter with her (and at the same time children from her and from his first marriages). He is currently filming as Detective Benoit Blanc on the hit series Knives Out. And, who knows, maybe one day he’ll make it to the Oscars, like Sean Connery finally did.
After the release of Spectre, Craig said in an interview that he would rather slit his wrists than play Bond again.
Photo: EASTERN NEWS
WHO WILL BE THE NEW AGENT 007 – VRONSKY OR ANDREY BOLKONSKY?
Who will become the new Bond is a question that is actively being discussed in the press. Little is known so far. First, 007 will almost certainly not become a woman; Barbara Broccoli made that clear even after the release of No Time To Die. The point here is also that action films with women in the main roles, as a rule, do not collect a lot of money at the box office (Lara Croft with Jolie or, for example, Captain Marvel are among the few exceptions). Broccoli was personally burned by the 2020 release of Blake Lively’s The Rhythm Section, which flopped with a deafening roar.
Second, Bond is unlikely to go black. The idea that Idris Elba would play him started as wishful thinking, but it was picked up on the internet. The actor denied these rumors a long time ago, and he is already a little older: at 50, they do not start playing agent 007. Conservative, he will reject a black spy without thinking for a long time.
Now, gossip is mentally testing almost every British actor in the region of 30-40 for the role of Bond (Americans have not traditionally played this role and will not play it for the foreseeable future – in extreme cases the applicant may be Australian). That’s only seven.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (32 years old). The most likely candidate, some bookies believe the paper is almost in his pocket. Young, handsome, he starred in greatest hits (“Kick-Ass”, “Godzilla”, “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, “Tenet”, “King’s Man: The Beginning”). He also played the lead in Becoming John Lennon and Vronsky in Anna Karenina with Keira Knightley.
Craig is happily married to the beautiful and excellent actress Rachel Weisz.
Photo: EASTERN NEWS
Henry Cavill (39 years old). He became famous in the series “The Tudors”, but mainly-as Superman in various movies based on the DC comics. He recently announced that he was stepping down. Maybe there’s another legendary skin on the way?
James Norton (37 years old). For Russian viewers, he is, first of all, Andrei Bolkonsky in the BBC miniseries War and Peace.
Tom Hardy (45 years old). The biggest star of this company, the favorite of the people. But he’s not young enough to make his debut as 007, and he’s had many brilliant roles (Venom, The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road, etc.).
Theo James (38 years old). The actor of Greek-British origin is best known for the teen fantasy trilogy “Divergent” and the series “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and “White Lotus.”
Harry Styles (29 years old). The singer, in the past, the vocalist of the boy band One Direction, for inexplicable reasons, is the idol of millions of girls. He has been trying himself as an actor for a long time and not without success: he starred in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, last year the films Don’t Worry, Darling and My Cop were released with him. But so far his main achievements are related to music – recently his album Harry’s House received a Grammy in the Album of the Year category.
Pablo Mescal (27 years old). The Irish actor has just been nominated for an Oscar for his role in the critically acclaimed film The Sunshine Is Mine. After that, he is bombarded with offers. Who knows, maybe Barbara Broccoli has already made a scandal.
Oh, and another question: how are the producers going to explain the resurrection of the murdered Bond? Most likely none. Calmly, they begin to tell the whole story from scratch, just as they began 17 years ago in Casino Royale.
FILMS WITH DANIEL CRAIG AS LINK
“Royal Casino” (2006)
“Quantum of Consolation” (2008)
“007: Skyfall Coordinates” (2012)
“Spectre” (2015)
“No Time to Die” (2021)
