Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig (born March 2, 1968) is an English actor.
He was born in Chester, the son of a steel erector and an art teacher. He was brought up in Prescot, near Liverpool. He also attended Hilbre High School, West Kirby (near Liverpool) and played rugby at nearby Hoylake Rugby Club. After briefly attending Sixth Form at Calday Grange Grammar School he moved to London when he was 16 to join the National Youth Theatre, later securing a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Craig's film career began with The Power of One in 1992, and he later gained wider recognition in the UK with a co-starring role in the critically-acclaimed BBC2 drama serial Our Friends in the North in 1996. Following a lighthearted introduction to international audiences as Angelina Jolie's rival and sometime love interest in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), he raised his profile in the United States in Sam Mendes' movie Road to Perdition (2002), with Tom Hanks, playing a weaselly murderer who hides behind his mobster father's shadow. Other leading film roles have included Sylvia (2003) with Gwyneth Paltrow and Enduring Love (2004) with Rhys Ifans. In 2005, Craig played a Jewish, South African-born Mossad agent in Steven Spielberg's controversial political thriller, Munich.
On October 9, 2005 the News of the World newspaper revealed that Craig had been having an affair with Sienna Miller, his co-star in Layer Cake (2005). Miller had recently been engaged to Jude Law, who had previously had an affair with his children's nanny in July.
James Bond
As early as February 2005, Craig had been named in the media as a possible contender to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. On April 6, 2005 Craig was reported to have been signed by EON Productions as part of a three-film contract worth £15 million [1], however, this news was later debunked by the BBC [2] who contacted EON for an official report. According to Craig, MGM offered him the role but the Broccoli family never got in touch with him.
Finally, on October 14, 2005, EON Productions named Daniel Craig as the sixth actor to portray 007, taking over from Pierce Brosnan. Craig signed a three-film contract, with the first, Casino Royale, expected to be released worldwide on November 17, 2006. The announcement was made at noon in London at HMS President, a Royal Naval Reserve station at St Katharine Docks, on the banks of the River Thames downstream of Tower Bridge.
When announced, because Daniel Craig has blond hair instead of Bond's typical black hair, he was consequently dubbed in the media as "James Blond." Roger Moore also sported a lighter sandy coloured hair throughout many of his films, however, he is not considered blond.
Born the year after the release of You Only Live Twice and before the release of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Craig is the first James Bond actor to be born after the start of the film series, and the first to be born after Ian Fleming's death in 1964.
The casting of Craig as Bond has been controversial among some fans of the film series, resulting in one group creating a website, craignotbond.com, advocating a boycott of the film unless EON Productions reconsiders their casting, even though production of Casino Royale had already begun. However, the general consensus among fans is a more positive attitude towards Daniel Craig as Bond and in defense of Craig a number of websites to counter Craignotbond.com have been created, such as craigisbond.net and givecraigachance.com. Additionally, many actors and actresses who have either worked with Craig or have been featured in previous Bond films have argued that Craig is a good choice as Bond. This list includes four of the past Bond actors: Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan. Miss Moneypenny, Samantha Bond, and the villain Scaramanga, Christopher Lee, have also backed the new Bond. Judi Dench has also voiced her support for Craig in this role, and criticized the negative reaction: "I hate how people have been attacking Daniel Craig. It's despicable and it disgusts me. I have filmed with him in Prague and the Bahamas and he is a fine actor. He brings something new and edgy to the role. His critics will be proved wrong."
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 2006 | Casino Royale | James Bond | Opened 11/17/06 |
| 2006 | The Visiting | Ben | Post-production |
| 2006 | Infamous | Perry Smith | |
| 2005 | Munich | Steve | In theatres |
| 2005 | Archangel | Fluke Kelso | Television drama |
| 2005 | Fateless | American Soldier | In theatres |
| 2005 | The Jacket | Rudy Mackenzie | |
| 2004 | Layer Cake | XXXX | |
| 2004 | Enduring Love | Joe | |
| 2003 | Sylvia | Ted Hughes | |
| 2003 | The Mother | Darren | |
| 2002 | Ten Minutes Older: The Cello | Cecil | |
| 2002 | Road to Perdition | Connor Rooney | |
| 2001 | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider | Alex West | |
| 2000 | Some Voices | Ray | |
| 2000 | I Dreamed of Africa | Declan Fielding | |
| 1998 | Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon | George Dyer | |
| 1998 | Elizabeth | John Ballard | |
| 1997 | Obsession | John McHale | |
| 1996 | Our Friends in the North | George "Geordie" Peacock | Television drama |
| 1995 | A Kid in King Arthur's Court | Master Kane | |
| 1992 | The Power of One | Sgt. Botha |