Daniel Craig has indeed won our hearts with his dashing 007 agent role in the James Bond franchise. He fused his charisma to the adventurous yet super smart spy that ultimately was seen in five films before he eventually retired from his role in 2021’s No Time to Die.
However, his entry into the franchise was not a bed of roses but a rough path as fans initially didn’t appreciate his arrival in the spy-thriller franchise. Overlooking that fact for a while, his first day on set was not easy all thanks to the role he signed up for.
Daniel Craig Talked About Starting His Journey as James Bond!
Daniel Craig rose to prominence with his spy role in the James Bond franchise. But, this stardom came at quite a hefty price since he had to go through hellish situations while filming for his first film, Casino Royale in 2006. As this film rebooted the franchise, he was given more action sequences to elevate the franchise’s overall essence. In an interview with Empire, he revealed doing parkour stunts on his own. It also meant that he had to endure a great amount of pain to execute demanding action scenes.
“I learned from day one that it was gonna hurt and the whole film really did hurt.” He said, “Just pain. But if I was hurting, the stunt guys were hurting ten times more than I was. I just had to suck it up and get on with it.
He continued to share that those intense stunts often felt like “being beaten round the head and neck with a stick, most days.”
Getting hurt was just a small part of the entire filming process which was proof that he put in his best efforts for the role. And why not, he had to prove his worth especially when fans were not appreciating his association as the titular role in the franchise.
Daniel Craig Was Initially Not Welcomed by James Bond Fans
While he has made quite a name for himself all due to his spy role, he received major criticism when his involvement as the lead role was announced. Not just the die-hard 007 fans but the critics were unable to welcome him and gave bizarre reasons why he was unfit for the spy role.
As per his haters, he lacked charisma and the classic look that was deemed necessary for the role. Not just that, they went on to mention that dark hair was a crucial factor for the role which was something Craig didn’t have as he was blonde.
Back at the time, the Knives Out actor was relatively unknown which became another reason for haters to shoot their harsh words on him. Fans went quite far as to even threaten to boycott the then-unreleased Casino Royale movie which debuted Craig as Bond.
However, the 55-year-old actor eventually proved his potential with the film grossing over $616 million worldwide.
Source: Empire
