After Pierce Brosnan’s Die Another Day failed to score high among fans and critics, GoldenEye director Martin Campbell was brought back to reinvent James Bond for the big screen. And for Campbell, no one was more perfect for the job than Daniel Craig, who eventually went on to take the gig, cementing himself as the best James Bond since Sir Sean Connery.
But unlike most actors who dream of playing the iconic spy, Craig initially refused the role. However, the director was adamant about getting Craig on board following his performance in Munich, even though he had his problems with the Steven Spielberg film.
Steven Spielberg’s Munich Made Daniel Craig the Frontrunner for James Bond
A year before Casino Royale hit the big screens, Daniel Craig took the role of Steve in Steven Spielberg’s dark, gritty espionage thriller, Munich, which Craig felt was everything that Bond wasn’t. However, GoldenEye director Martin Campbell wasn’t too fond of Spielberg’s movie but was extremely vocal about his love for Craig’s performance, deeming him as the best part of Munich. And this performance of Craig convinced Campbell that the Knives Out Star was the perfect man for his Bond film, stating he fitted his version of Bond “much better than the other actors we saw”.
“He’s a very fine actor,” says Campbell. “He looks different to the stereotype of Bond, and he doesn’t have the pretty-boy looks of someone like Pierce, but he’s good-looking in a very rugged, tough way. He’s got an edge to him, I think… He was very good in Munich. Even though I wasn’t a big fan of the film, I thought he was one of the best things in it – and he barely opened his mouth.”
But despite the director’s desire to get the Defiance Star to take the gig, Craig had his doubts about committing to such a huge franchise. Fortunately, things eventually worked out after Steven Spielberg entered the story.
Steven Spielberg Played a Major Role in Kickstarting Daniel Craig’s James Bond Journey
Even though Daniel Craig turned down the first offer for Casino Royale following the lack of a script, he couldn’t get it out of his head. Eventually, Steven Spielberg pushed the Knives Out Star to give the project a shot. Craig recalled, “He said, ‘If the script’s right and if the deal’s right, do the job.'” And despite his hesitancy, when the script arrived, Craig was surprisingly impressed by the material.
“I was honestly wanting to dislike it. It would have been an easy decision.” Craig recalled. ” I could have said, ‘That’s very nice. Good luck with it.’ But it was too much. I sweated when I read the script. I thought, this is a great story, probably because it adhered to the book quite closely, and I just thought, ‘You’ve got to be really silly not to have a think about this.'”
As the story goes, Martin Campbell succeeded in bringing his vision to life, kickstarting Craig’s iconic run as Bond, which witnessed some of the best James Bond films in the character’s decades-long legacy.
Casino Royale is available to rent on Apple TV.
Source: Empire Magazine
