|
THE
BOND FILES - Daniel Craig
becomes the sixth holder of the licence to kill,
confirmed October
2005.
I'd
like to personally welcome Daniel Craig and congratulate
him on accepting his new role as Britain's number one
spy. I'd also like to thank the producers and
director for choosing an actor likely to inject some
magic to the role of the latest 'Casino Royale' movie,
which is sure to be a blockbuster.
Nelson
Kruschandl - Congratulations
Possibly
one of the worst-kept secrets in Hollywood has now been
confirmed: Finally on the 14th October 2005, the
producers of the James Bond movie series announced that
British actor Daniel Craig was going to step into the
legendary shoes worn by Sean Connery, Roger Moore and
Pierce Brosnan, to name just three. Craig was chosen
after an exhaustive search in which seemingly every
actor with an accent was a possibility, including Clive
Owen, Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor. Craig's first Bond
film, based on Ian Fleming's first Bond book,
"Casino Royale," will hit theaters in 2006.
Craig
was introduced to the world on Friday in typically
flamboyant 007 style, swept up the River Thames on a
power launch to a news conference, escorted by Royal
Marines boats. Dressed in a blue suit and red tie,
Craig posed for photos in the shadow of Tower Bridge,
telling reporters: "I'm kind of speechless."
Speaking on Friday at his official unveiling, Craig said
the strength of the 007 series is that it
"redefines itself and is always of its time".
Daniel
Craig as James Bond
Producer
Michael G Wilson said the film-makers considered more
than 200 actors from around the world over two years
before settling on Craig. Neither Q nor Moneypenny
will appear, Mr Wilson added, but M will return.
However, it was not confirmed whether Dame Judi Dench
will play the spy chief.
Four
years ago James Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams
- who is working on the new film Casino Royale - said in
an interview Bond had to be "devastatingly
handsome, incredibly fit and available". To
many Craig would tick all those boxes and more, yet
other observers have picked up on the actor's blond
hair. Bond has been portrayed by dark-haired
actors for the last 40 years and was described as having
"dark hair" by Fleming himself.
Mini
Filmography:
1996
- Our Friends in the North (above)
2003
- Sylvia, The Mother
2004
- Layer Cake, Enduring Love
The
new James Bond made his stage debut at six in Oliver!.
The public first noticed him as a Geordie in the 1996
landmark BBC drama Our Friends in the North. Daniel
Craig has carved out a niche playing unhinged
gangsters. He will be the first blonde haired
actor to play 007 and at just 1.83 metres, he will be
the shortest.
Sony
Pictures had plans to keep the identity of their newest
Bond a secret, but as The Hollywood Reporter's Michael
Rechtshaffen told the world, the mystery began to
unravel earlier in the week. "This was
supposed to be this big 'Guess who we've brought
in to replace Pierce Brosnan?'" he said. "But
we've known about this at least a week. Daniel
Craig's own mum, was talking to a Liverpool
newspaper two days before saying, 'Oh, we're thrilled to
bits about the news'."
Born
in Chester, north-west England, in 1968, he is four
years younger than Pierce Brosnan was when he agreed to
become Bond. He
left school at 16 and joined the National Youth Theatre
and from there won a place at the prestigious Guildhall
School of Music and Dance. Like
many British actors, his first professional screen work
was on television with small one-off roles in series
such as Boon, Heartbeat and Drop the Dead Donkey.
Craig's
first excursion as the super-spy will be an adaptation
of Casino Royale, Ian Fleming's first 007
book. Craig has long been the personal choice of
producer Barbara Broccoli, ahead of the Croatian ER
star Goran Visnjic and the Australian actor Sam
Worthington.
Daniel
Craig in 'Layercake'
He
has already had more than a taste of being in the
limelight — and not just for his acting. He was
seen with actress Sienna Miller, 23, during her break-up
with Jude Law and, a year ago, he reportedly had a
four-month relationship with Kate Moss.
Succeeding
Pierce Brosnan to become the sixth Bond will inevitably
give him an even higher public profile. Director,
Martin Campbell, wants to make the 21st Bond film -
Casino Royale - a much grittier blockbuster.
"It's difficult to find the man that every woman
wants to go to bed with and every man wants to be,"
Campbell said. "Whoever plays Bond has to do it for
three movies because of the contract, and that's a big
commitment for actors."
His
Bond will likely be a more serious, more believable spy,
and that could be a welcome change after the ice palace
in the last movie. It will be interesting to see
if the producers and director Martin Campbell are smart
enough to mould "Casino Royale" around Craig's
quietly intense persona, or if they just try and
shoehorn him into a gadgets and girls formula
script. If they realize what they have in Craig
and play to his strengths, "Casino Royale"
could be a real high in the series. If not, he may
not last longer than "George Lazenby."
We hope he will make the part his.
Craig
recently turned down big money to play Biggles on TV,
preferring a role in Steven Spielberg's movie Vengeance.
Given the good will that the suave Brosnan has built up
over the years, the relatively unknown Craig was bound
to sail into a bit of a backlash when he stormed down
the Thames in a speedboat at the official press
conference.
Daniel
Craig River Thames entrance
Movie
fan sites like AintItCoolNews have been abuzz with
opinions. There
has been some criticism from fans because Craig just
doesn't look like anybody's mental picture of
Bond. We tend to think of the greatest British
fictional sleuth as tall, dark and handsome. While
Craig is 5'10", blond and has a character
face. Some fans say "Vladimir Putin IS
007."
To
those negatives we say look to: "Layer
Cake." This British thriller, which came out
on DVD a couple of months ago, plays like an audition
tape for Craig as Bond. He stars as a mid-level
drug dealer looking to retire, but who finds himself
having to negotiate with competing criminal
interests. You may not follow the plot (due to the
Cockney dialect) the first time you see it, but you will
notice how well Craig plays it cool under fire. A very
British and very Bond like performance.
Bond
purists may balk at the choice but it is worth noting
that Fleming's description of the spy also included a
three-inch, vertical scar on his left cheek.
McWilliams also said the role would go to someone
"less well known" than actor Russell Crowe,
who was also reportedly once in the mix. Craig
again ticks all the boxes; his most high-profile role to
date was in the first Tomb Raider film, alongside
Angelina Jolie. Raider was a moderate success, as
was his role as poet Ted Hughes in the biopic Sylvia,
and as the mysterious XXXX in Layer Cake he garnered
good reviews for his performance.
His
breakthrough role was as Geordie Peacock in the
nine-part TV series Our Friends in the North, playing a
hard man with a troubled past.
But since
the turn of the century he has mainly focused on film
with standout roles in Sylvia, Enduring Love and Road to
Perdition.
Angelina
Jolie - Bond Babe?
Since
the announcement speculations
has intensified about the next Bond Girl. If
rumours are to be believed, Hollywood actress Angelina
Jolie is in talks with the Bond producers to star in
'Casino Royale' as sexy Russian agent Vesper Lynd, who
beds the spy agent.
Angelina
Jolie may need to learn Russian, as she is in talks
about playing next Bond girl Vesper Lynd who happens to
be Russian and seduces James Bond. Angelina Jolie
already co-starred with Daniel Craig, who was chosen for
the James Bond role, in Tomb Raider.
According to sources, while Jessica Alba, Uma Thurman
and Rachel Stevens are also in the competition, the
movie bosses think that the 'Tomb Raider' actress in
perfect for the role. "Angelina is simply
perfect for the part of the ultimate Bond girl,"
according to some sources.
He
has recently finished filming with Steven Spielberg on
his film Munich, about the aftermath of the terrorist
attacks at the 1972 Olympics. And his latest role
is as real-life killer Perry Smith, who was immortalised
in Truman Capote's book In Cold Blood. Craig's
transition from essentially a character actor to the
head of a global franchise will be an interesting one to
follow.
So
what kind of Bond will Craig make? A Washington
Post film critic described Craig as "the next Steve
McQueen". "He has McQueen's way of
dominating without bullying. He's also handsome in a
rugged way, thin and strong," wrote journalist
Stephen Hunter. Steve McQueen as James Bond? Now
that's casting.
His
predecessors were:
SEAN
CONNERY
BORN
Edinburgh, 1930
HEIGHT 188 centimetres
AGE WHEN HE FIRST PLAYED BOND 32
GEORGE
LAZENBY
BORN NSW, 1939
HEIGHT 189 centimetres
AGE WHEN HE PLAYED BOND 30
ROGER
MOORE
BORN Stockwell, London, 1927
HEIGHT 185 centimetres
AGE WHEN HE FIRST PLAYED BOND 46
TIMOTHY
DALTON
BORN
Wales, 1944
HEIGHT 188 centimetres
AGE WHEN HE FIRST PLAYED BOND 43
PIERCE
BROSNAN
BORN County Louth, Ireland, 1953
HEIGHT 185 centimetres
AGE WHEN HE FIRST PLAYED BOND 42
LINKS:
Golden
guy
Will
Daniel Craig bring fresh life to the Bond franchise?
NEW
JAMES BOND STORY - James
Bond and the Solar Navigator
CONTACT
US
Solar
Cola sponsor this website.
|
DANIEL CRAIG as JAMES BOND 007
