17 replies to this topic

[Emrayfo]

Craig misses being able to go to the pub. I can empathise with that.

 

http://dujour.com/ne...rview-pictures/

 

 

[Logie]

Good interview. It's hard not to like Daniel Craig. Always comes across like one of the lads.

[Simon]

Yes.  Genuine.  And clearly not a Roger Moore ambassador clone.

 

By which I mean, Roger does ambassadorial stuff stupendously, and Daniel swears like a trooper.

 

Friends say they saw Daniel in a pub in Bray recently.  He'd had a bite to eat at the end of filming.  Everyone left him alone, including the friends, who basically lauded it over me the day(s) afterwards.

[Vauxhall]

Enjoyed that interview.

Craig would be hard work over a pint but tough not to respect the fact that he cares about Bond being a success, but also really doesn't like how it's changed the freedom of his life.

[Emrayfo]

“I feel like we’ve all done our absolute fucking best and that’s a good feeling. Whether that makes a better movie we’ll see.”

 

Another good current Craig interview, this one accompanied by some decent photography. Maybe this thread should be renamed 'Craig SPECTRE interviews'. 

 

Esquire UK interview: http://www.esquire.c...raig-interview/

 

[Sir Godfrey]

Have you read this ?

 

Would he at least like to do another one? “At this moment, no. I have a life and I’ve got to get on with it a bit. But we’ll see.”

 

Edited by Sir Godfrey, 01 September 2015 - 08:01 AM.

[Emrayfo]

Me? Yes I've read it. He's made that same point more than once lately. I think most people are taking it to mean each film is a massive effort and he just wants to put his feet up and forget about Bond for a bit once all the promo obligations are completed.

[SecretAgentFan]

Interesting that he says the original plan was to go bigger in every way, even trying out to be more Moore-like.

[David_M]

 

Yes.  Genuine.  And clearly not a Roger Moore ambassador clone.

 

By which I mean, Roger does ambassadorial stuff stupendously, and Daniel swears like a trooper.

 

 

Nah, a trooper would know more than just the f-bomb, and show some creativity in using it.

 

It's interesting to see how little things have changed since Connery's day, in terms of people not respecting privacy.  If anything, it seems much worse now, since everyone with a cellphone is potential paparazzi. I feel for him on that score, though it's hard to imagine how most people would have the nerve to impose on a guy who seems to give off such a menacing, stay-the-hell-away-from-me vibe just as a general rule.  

 

 

 

 

Interesting that he says the original plan was to go bigger in every way, even trying out to be more Moore-like.

 

I confess I didn't see what you meant at first, but if you mean the line near the beginning, where he says he wanted to do gags and make the films funny, yeah, that had me scratching my head.  But I don't think it's the first time I've heard him hint in that direction.  

[ChickenStu]

I have to admit - whilst I'm not overly impressed by celebrities (we all s*** out of the same hole, right?) if I saw ANY Bond actor I don't think I'd be able to help myself. I'd have to say hello and ask if I can get a photo with them.

Luckily, I've heard that EVERY Bond actor is usually happy to chat to fans unless they are disturbing them having dinner or something. Brosnan is apparently the nicest. 

I'd love that to happen, but I'd try and catch them at the right time. It's nice to read Daniel Craig saying he's willing to do it. This gives me an idea for a thread actually...

[tdalton]

Interesting that he says the original plan was to go bigger in every way, even trying out to be more Moore-like.

It's often difficult to make heads or tails out of what the Bond actors say sometimes, especially Craig and Brosnan. Maybe Craig secretly wants to make a Moore-style romp instead of the ultra-serious films that he's been making, but honestly, I don't think that's where his strengths lie as Bond, and I think EON knows that.

It seems that Craig's indifference towards the role (he always seems to want to be done with it) is his go to thing on the promotional trail in the same way that Brosnan seemed to always love to trash the previous Bond film while promoting the new one. I can't say that I'm a fan of either approach, to be honest.

[SecretAgentFan]

Same here - but that´s actors, unfortunately...

[tdalton]

Same here - but that´s actors, unfortunately...

 

Not all of them.  It would be nice to get an actor in the role who embraces the job in the way that someone like Tom Cruise does.  There are plenty of actors out there who are good at what they do and don't always have to be negative about it at the same time.  The "I wanted out of the role from the beginning" and "the last movie stunk, but this one's great" nonsense from the last two Bonds really doesn't play well.  At all.  We shouldn't dismiss or allow poor manners (or however you'd like to refer to these types of things) simply because that's what actors do.  

 

I get why Connery soured on the role.  Doing a film every single year and having Bondmania following him around would have drained anyone.  Craig doesn't have that excuse to fall back on.  He's had the opportunity to do other, more "serious" and "respectable" roles that truly stretch his acting muscles and he's had fairly lengthy breaks between donning the tux, and he's had more creative input than the other five Bond actors combined.  

[Single-O-Seven]

Interesting that he says the original plan was to go bigger in every way, even trying out to be more Moore-like.

It's often difficult to make heads or tails out of what the Bond actors say sometimes, especially Craig and Brosnan. Maybe Craig secretly wants to make a Moore-style romp instead of the ultra-serious films that he's been making, but honestly, I don't think that's where his strengths lie as Bond, and I think EON knows that.

It seems that Craig's indifference towards the role (he always seems to want to be done with it) is his go to thing on the promotional trail in the same way that Brosnan seemed to always love to trash the previous Bond film while promoting the new one. I can't say that I'm a fan of either approach, to be honest.

You're quite right that Craig shouldn't do a Moore style film. He could never carry himself off the way Moore did; his attempts at cocky one-liners often miss the mark, and if he were to try and play off the character in that way for a whole film I think it would stall. He's excellent in other regards, and shouldn't stretch beyond the "quieter" and widely spaced humour that enriched CR.

As for the actors and their comments, I got the sense Craig was feeling exhausted. The interview was done a week after he'd finished six months of filming. If Spectre does well and Craig is reminded of how well he is doing, and a bit of time passes for him to relax, I believe he will come around and appreciate what the role means. Even Moore had his moments when he was still playing the part, though he's warmly embracing of it now.

[tdalton]

Interesting that he says the original plan was to go bigger in every way, even trying out to be more Moore-like.

It's often difficult to make heads or tails out of what the Bond actors say sometimes, especially Craig and Brosnan. Maybe Craig secretly wants to make a Moore-style romp instead of the ultra-serious films that he's been making, but honestly, I don't think that's where his strengths lie as Bond, and I think EON knows that.

It seems that Craig's indifference towards the role (he always seems to want to be done with it) is his go to thing on the promotional trail in the same way that Brosnan seemed to always love to trash the previous Bond film while promoting the new one. I can't say that I'm a fan of either approach, to be honest.

You're quite right that Craig shouldn't do a Moore style film. He could never carry himself off the way Moore did; his attempts at cocky one-liners often miss the mark, and if he were to try and play off the character in that way for a whole film I think it would stall. He's excellent in other regards, and shouldn't stretch beyond the "quieter" and widely spaced humour that enriched CR.

As for the actors and their comments, I got the sense Craig was feeling exhausted. The interview was done a week after he'd finished six months of filming. If Spectre does well and Craig is reminded of how well he is doing, and a bit of time passes for him to relax, I believe he will come around and appreciate what the role means. Even Moore had his moments when he was still playing the part, though he's warmly embracing of it now.

I don't particularly care if he likes the role of Bond or not. He signed up for it, so he has to deal with whether it's something that he enjoys or not, or whether it's something he feels is beneath him or not. That's his business. However, that's something that he should keep to himself. He's making a ton of money playing this character, and guess who is paying that ridiculous salary? We are, albeit indirectly. I have a hard time listening to a millionaire complain about how hard his life is or how much he despises what he does when it's people like myself (and the rest of us here), many of whom are struggling financially or barely getting by (certainly not living the high life that Craig does) who are putting that money in his pockets in the first place.

[SecretAgentFan]

Craig seems to at least cultivate the aura of "honesty", not using a PR-friendly filter when speaking to the press.  Thereby he comes off sounding harsh, grumpy and sometimes even disrespectful of the role that made his career.

 

One must never forget though that this is also an act designed for the press.  Craig definitely knows (and he even admits it now in this interview) that taking on Bond has offered him fantastic opportunities and financial security.  And he is grateful for that.

 

I can imagine that doing a Bond film nowadays is such a massive undertaking, with so much physical and psychological stress (more than in the Connery and Moore days), that the main actor is burnt out at the end.  Especially with the prospect of doing the PR rounds around the planet for months, going from one country to the next, answering the same, often imbecile questions by "journalists".  It is a circus that every actor (and I´m sure even the energy wizard Tom Cruise) secretly hates.

 

So if Craig right now says: Don´t want to do that anymore - yeah, I do understand that and cannot hold it against him.

 

Tom Cruise, by the way, rarely gives interviews, and when he does they are edited and re-written by his advisers.  So, the real Cruise we never get to hear.  Craig just does not give an expletive whether he sounds miserable.  I wonder: where´s more honesty there?

 

As for Pierce Brosnan - I get the feeling that he has always been insecure since he knows that the majority of critics always have viewed him (and continue to do so) as not a good actor.  Therefore he tried to get them on his side by agreeing with their critique of his past Bond films, giving himself the aura of someone who in fact was more intelligent than the films he starred in.

 

I think he should have been more self-confident, stressing the strengths of the films.  But he probably will never forgive BB for not rehiring him, ending his chance at collecting the big bucks.  Which I can also understand from his side.  Right now, he seems to take on any film that pays him enough.  I do consider him a really good actor who did fantastic work.  He should concentrate on developing his own material or search for character roles that offer him the chance to stray from the "suave leading man"-roles.  Too bad "The November Man" did not do enough business, by the way.

[tdalton]

 

 

So if Craig right now says: Don´t want to do that anymore - yeah, I do understand that and cannot hold it against him.

 

 

 

But he's also said several times before that he's wanted out.  It's fine to feel that way, but don't verbalize it to the audience that pays your hefty salary and has made you an international superstar.  It's disrespectful.  At the end of the day, it's pretty simple.  If he doesn't want to play the part, he doesn't have to.  He could just as easily go back to the seemingly more fulfilling career he had before Bond, making more "important" work like Lara Croft Tomb Raider and not have to deal with the annoyances of collecting several million dollars to play the part that many actors would give up their careers to play.  

 

As for Tom Cruise, I just threw him out as an example of someone who seems to enjoy his work.  Even if he does edit his interviews, that at the very least demonstrates at least some respect for his audience (even if it comes from a selfish place), that he's not going to allow some stupid comment slip out there.  Still, there are plenty of actors out there who aren't miserable, woe-is-me types who seemingly hate their work.

 

At the end of the day, though, Craig is free to conduct himself in interviews in whatever way he deems fit.  EON apparently endorses this approach, since there's been nothing out of them to the contrary.  But we're also free to form our opinions of Craig based on how he conducts himself in interviews as well.   

[Guy Haines]

So far as "not wanting to do another Bond film" is concerned, Daniel Craig has been interviewed immediately after a demanding filming schedule, and his reaction and reply in the interview might simply be relief that the film is out of the way, and no desire at the moment to go back to Bond. Which after months of filming, and injury at times, he wouldn't. But twelve to eighteen months down the line, after what we all hope is a successful fourth Bond film, his reaction to a return to Bond may well be very different.

If Daniel Craig chooses not to - the producers look for another Bond actor, simple as that. But his comments read to me as simply not wanting to do anything like Bond - at the moment. The last three words being key.

As for the "original plan" - jokes, gags, out Moore-ing Moore - again I don't see his comments the same way as others. It's simply a statement of fact - Bond films couldn't go on parodying themselves when we now had Mike Myers doing a parody of Bond doing a parody of Bond (In fairness, the Austin Powers movies sent up other things besides - Mike Myers' character always seemed a wildly exaggerated take on the swinging sixties in general and the late TV host Simon Dee in particular.)

I've always thought that if the direction taken by MR had been continued and ramped up in the 1980s and had continued to be successful (1 we might never have had Timothy Dalton as Bond - it would have been impossible for his approach on Bond to work in such an environment and (2 Mike Myers would have had to find another genre to send up. But the producers of Bond always sensed when they might be going too far and pulled back, as they did with FYEO.

(Incidentally, according to one of its stars, one Bond series rival that didn't was the TV show The Man From UNCLE. In his autobiography "A Fortunate Life", Robert Vaughn regrets the direction the show took after the first series - influenced, he believes by TV's "Batman" - and says the show became camp but the humour was more silly than funny.)

This "original plan" might have worked with a different actor as Bond, but not with the current incumbent. And bear in mind the influence of other movies, notably the Bourne series. So, even if Austin Powers hadn't been around, I doubt we would have seen much difference in the films from CR 2006 onwards.