CASINO ROYALE
An Interview with Daniel Craig
By Wilson Morales

November 13, 2006

When word became official that Daniel Craig had been chosen among many actors such as Clive Owen, Christian Bale, and others to replace Pierce Brosnan as the new James Bond, so many naysayers came out of the woodwork. The campaign against Craig was spreading beyond belief. Not only was shorter than any of the previous Bonds, but he would be the first blue eyed blond to grace the screen, and he couldn’t drive a stick car, which is essential when driving the famed Astor Martin. Over time, and with early previews being shown around the world, opinion started to turn toward his favor. Craig, whose previous films include “Mother”, The Road to Perdition”, “Munich” and this year’s “Infamous”, has developed the persona, the attitude, and charisma to be as good as any of the others. In speaking with blackfilm.com, Craig talks about being under pressure to satisfy Bond lovers, the training he took to get in shape and working with the lovely Judi Dench.

Do you find that you have to dress differently now, debonair and all?

Daniel Craig: I’ve got some nice suits in my cupboard which are worth putting on occasionally but no if I wasn’t in this situation I’d be dressed very differently. I’ve been getting some very nice clothes at the moment but if you get a suit made for you it’s great to wear. But I’d rather stick on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt on and go out and have a drink.

You must be so relieve to have this movie come out after all the crap you were put through by the media? How do you work under that?

DC: It affected me in a negative way. It was like, ‘Christ what can I do with this.’ The only way I can answer to that is to present the movie and say have a look at it and if you still feel the same way there’s no answer. I had a little bit of a dark day and that was it, a dark day. The next day I went to set and was working with incredibly supportive people who were just saying, ‘get on with it, and ignore it.’ I threw the lap top out the window. That’s the best thing you can do.

Can you talk about the training process that you went through for this role?

DC: It’s simple really. I kind of hit the gym. I always kept fit a little bit. I started running and gave up smoking which is essential. I started pushing weights with a trainer which is crucial to the situation because without him I couldn’t do it because I need to be pushed. I wanted to get as fit as I possible could. I wanted to get into shape. I wanted it to look like when he took his shirt off you went, ‘oh yeah he can do that.’ It was a grand scheme plan that I continued while I was filming but I’m not doing anything at the moment. Brits do go to the gym but they just don’t take their shirt off as much as everybody else does. It’s very cold so we keep our clothes on.

When you were approached for the role, did you believe you could be James Bond?

DC: When I was approached the first time around, I was scared. I was incredibly honored. I don’t know how it worked out but I got the call that Barbara (Broccoli) wanted to see me. I got a copy of the book and read it. It sounded interesting. I approached it as I approached everything else. I said show me a script and I’ll make a decision but they didn’t have a script for about an eight month period so I walked away and said, ‘no I can’t do this.’ Barbara (Broccoli) is very persuasive and I made the deal. I couldn’t have approached this five years ago or 10 years ago. I wouldn’t have known how to deal with it and I probably still don’t know how to deal with it. But it came at a time where I was more involved with movie making and people were listening to me which is kind of weird. When I approached (producers) Barbara (Broccoli) and Michael (G. Wilson) and said if you give me a responsibility here which goes beyond just the acting, can I talk to you about the music, about the posters, the look and feel of this movie? If you get me involved with all that I can walk onto that set and be James Bond. They let me off the leash and allowed me to get on with my job. There are certain posters that are gonna come up which are gonna have an explosion and a girl. I’m going, ‘we don’t have to do this.’ If you go to the offices in London which is where Barbara (Broccoli) is based they’ve got the (James Bond) Japanese (posters) from the 60s and the (Sean) Connery ones, the drawings. When I walked into the office I said I wanted to do something that represents now but isn’t trying too hard (to sell the film).

What was it about the script that made you interested?

DC: I was absolutely sure that if we didn’t see some sort of change, then it would just be a rehash of something we’ve seen before and just wasn’t going to get involved with that. It was important that we had within Vesper Lynd an actress or a character that we could believe why he would fall in love because it would be no good to have another Bond girl; in fact she’s not just another Bond girl. Caterina, who’s beautiful and georgeous is sort of our closest thing but even she’s not. She has something else going on. We had to have that dynamic. That’s the heart of the movie. That’s what driving him and what makes him change and what makes him give up. The rest of it has to seamlessly tie into that. It’s just a challenge. It has to be a challenge.

The film did show chemistry between you and Eva (Green).

DC: She’s great. She nailed it. We had fun doing this. He’s a sexist pig, but it had to be someone who could tell him that he’s a sexist pig and she doesn’t like him and Eva does it very well. That’s what turns his head. I think it’s there on the screen.

Had you read the book and seen the original film?

DC: Yeah, I read the book, the David Niven version. It’s a great psychedelic mess of its time.

Did you have a moment of panic during those torture scenes?

DC: The chair had a seat underneath made of fiber glass. The piece of rope is a real piece of rope and there’s no faking it. He swung it around the one take and the seat cracked and I bolted across the room like you’ve never seen. I had to sort of trust him. He hit me with it a couple of times but not in the important places.

Did it occur to you that this particular scene makes him more vulnerable than we have seen James Bond before?

DC: I don’t think it was a self conscious thing, but it’s quite accurately pulled from the book, so it’s a testament to Ian Fleming really; and it had to be in the film. The great thing about the scenes with Mads is that we never have a physical fight. Normally at some point Bond has to have some fight with the bad guy. Although Mads looks like he can handle himself, the physical fight is a mental one like at the card table. It’s at that point where Bond thinks he’s going to die.

Do you think you worked too hard to be Bond?

DC: I tried. In hindsight, it’s easy to say now. Support is the issue here. Support from Barbara and Michael and everybody. I spurned me on. I just thought that I can’t drop the ball here and everyday has to be about making it better, so it spurned me on.

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