The two megastars Angelina Jolie and Daniel Craig have worked together only once, and the project was a massive hit. Before stardom as James Bond, Daniel Craig was massively appreciated for his role in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. The movie was the first live-action Tomb Raider film which was based on the famous video game franchise. Angelina Jolie starred as the lead in the film with Craig in a supporting role.
The movie proved to be a turning point in the career of the actress and launched her career as an action star. She also did a sequel of the film named, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life.
Daniel Craig was rejected at the audition for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
The Cowboys & Aliens star was second to Angelina Jolie in joining the project. As per reports, the actor’s initial audition did not go well because the director of the film had a distracting headache at the time. Craig once said at a press meeting, according to Movie Pub,
“I did the interview, and [director Simon West] had a headache. He was holding this bottle of water and he goes, ‘I don’t think you have the right voice. We’re not gonna get very far with this one.’”
Thankfully, after the director’s headache cleared, West called Craig back to re-audition for the part again. Craig won the director over with his natural acting, and the role was a perfect fit for the actor.
Daniel Craig reveals Lara Croft: Tomb Raider slowed down his career
In the past years, Craig never had high regard for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie. The actor shared in an interview with Groucho Reviews about the main issue with the film. He felt that the script of the movie was lacking in the story. He said,
“On something like Tomb Raider, you’re beholden to the fact that you’re—they didn’t have a script. So that’s as simple as that. You can’t start a film without a script.”
In a conversation with Female First, Daniel Craig shared in detail about his unpleasant experience working in the movie,
“Tomb Raider slowed things down for me. It was the worst mistake I’ve made. But it was also a good lesson. The script on that was all over the f****** place, waffling on about eight foot f****** green monkeys or some such b**locks and I could just never get my head around what was supposed to be going on. Angie had it worse, she was in every scene and had to take all the s*** afterwards.”
“But personally I should never have said yes. I felt like a bit of a spare p**** at a wedding throughout. I probably looked like one too.”
Though the Knives Out actor regretted agreeing to do the Angelina Jolie film, it turned out to be a commercial success with a worldwide gross of $273 Million.
Source- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
