34 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

Toby Stephens defends Daniel Craig as 007

Former Bond villain Toby Stephens has defended the latest 007 star Daniel Craig in the wake of criticism from some fans over his casting.
Website ww.craignotbond.com asked fans on Wednesday to boycott the new film Casino Royale, saying Craig's casting was "ruining the future" of James Bond.

Stephens, who played Gustav Graves in 2002's Die Another Day, said Bond was becoming "too cliched and unrealistic".

He said the casting of Craig in the lead role was "inspired".

"The last Bond film took it to an extreme in one direction and it became fantastical," he said.

"It was all those things people want from Bond but it was stretched to its absolute limit."

Stephens, who is starring in upcoming ITV1 drama The Best Man, said the decision to choose Craig as the latest bond took the character "back to its roots".

"Craig is a serious actor and doesn't look like a traditional James Bond," he said.

"He is a very dark actor and a very interesting one and I think he will be brilliant. It will reinvigorate the whole thing.

"It is not going to be to everyone's taste but that is the thing when you take over a role, you are not going to please everyone."

British actor Craig, 37, was announced as the sixth James Bond in October last year.

Best-known for his roles in gangster thriller Layer Cake and the recent Spielberg drama Munich, he has been the subject of media criticism since he made his debut as the secret agent at a lacklustre press conference.

Earlier this week former Bond star Pierce Brosnan defended his successor. "I think Daniel is a very fine actor," he said.

And veteran actor Christopher Lee has also called on critics to give the new Bond star a chance.

"People should not pass judgment until they have seen the film," said Lee, a former Bond villain and a distant cousin of 007 creator Ian Fleming.

http://commanderbond...item&item=29151

[Jeff007]

Good job Toby! You don't turn you back on your family. Looks like the whole Bond family is getting behind, Craig. Pierce, Roger, Christopher Lee, Hilary Saltzman. Few I'm missing I'm sure.

[dinovelvet]

Cheers, Toby.

(Looking rather Bondian himself in that tux!)

[Andrew]

Good job Toby! You don't turn you back on your family. Looks like the whole Bond family is getting behind, Craig. Pierce, Roger, Christopher Lee, Hilary Saltzman. Few I'm missing I'm sure.

Sir Sean!

I'm trying to compile all the postive quotes here: http://debrief.comma...showtopic=29150

[Qwerty]

Good job Toby! You don't turn you back on your family. Looks like the whole Bond family is getting behind, Craig. Pierce, Roger, Christopher Lee, Hilary Saltzman. Few I'm missing I'm sure.

Definitely (and Connery as well, as Andrew points out).

[Mister Asterix]

[mra]Why can

[doublenoughtspy]

More importantly, when is Daniel Craig's mother going to weigh in on the issue?

[Jeff007]

Good job Toby! You don't turn you back on your family. Looks like the whole Bond family is getting behind, Craig. Pierce, Roger, Christopher Lee, Hilary Saltzman. Few I'm missing I'm sure.

Sir Sean!

I'm trying to compile all the postive quotes here: http://debrief.comma...showtopic=29150

Yes of course! Thanks Andrew and Qwerty.

[Dmitri Mishkin]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='522887' date='23 February 2006 - 12:29']
[mra]Why can

Edited by Dmitri Mishkin, 23 February 2006 - 08:40 PM.

[killkenny kid]

Well, done. Mr. Stephens.

[The Dove]

I echo that thought!! Cheers Toby for adding your vote of confidence in Craig to the votes of other Bond alumni!!

[marktmurphy]

Good job Toby! You don't turn you back on your family.

Although he does come very close to criticising the Bond film he was in!

[Tarl_Cabot]

Good show mate. I just became a fan of my least favorite Bond villian.

[killkenny kid]

Good job Toby! You don't turn you back on your family.

Although he does come very close to criticising the Bond film he was in!

Now, why would he do that?

[Tarl_Cabot]

Good job Toby! You don't turn you back on your family.

Although he does come very close to criticising the Bond film he was in!

Yeah, you gotta really love him for that-that's integrady! I hate actors that can't just admit that a film they were in sucked.

[Blue07]

Is it really such a good thing that everyone that was ever once associated with a Bond film is leaping to DC's support? Surely that implies there is a need to show support to him - as if a few internet sad cases posting their dislike is going to change anything. Or maybe this is just the press interviewing anyone associated with Bond desperatly trying to find a negative response. I look forward to tomorrows news storys where Oliver Skeet praises Craig's casting, Denise Richards says he is a sex magnet and Caroline Bliss offers him round to listen to her Barry Manilow collection.

[tdalton]

Good job Toby! You don't turn you back on your family.

Although he does come very close to criticising the Bond film he was in!

Yeah, you gotta really love him for that-that's integrady! I hate actors that can't just admit that a film they were in sucked.

I thought that when they cast Toby Stephens that he was a good choice for a Bond villain because of the fact that he's a talented actor. But, he wasn't given anything to work with as far as the material was concerned.

So, I find it refreshing to hear him come close to criticizing Die Another Day, and of course, it's great to hear yet more support for Daniel Craig.

[Loomis]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='522887' date='23 February 2006 - 20:29']
[mra]Why can

[Tarl_Cabot]

Craig is talked about like a big fat ugly chick who's really nice or smart.

[krypt]

Bravo Toby! (He's looking more like a future Bond everyday himself).

[tdalton]

[quote name='Loomis' post='523020' date='23 February 2006 - 18:15']
[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='522887' date='23 February 2006 - 20:29']
[mra]Why can

[doublenoughtspy]

I agree - it's like the "big kids" are defending the "little kid" from the bullies, and it doesn't really do Craig any favors.

Nice thought, but it does draw more attention to the negative than the positive.

And Tdalton, I think you summed up what happened with Lazenby too - only more so. From total unknown, to Bond, during the 60s no less, and the first to replace Connery.

You would think that by now it would have gotten easier.

[tdalton]

And Tdalton, I think you summed up what happened with Lazenby too - only more so. From total unknown, to Bond, during the 60s no less, and the first to replace Connery.

One thing that I don't think that the press realizes (and I'm referring just to those who are attacking Craig for no good reason) is that they may be having a hand in potentially setting the franchise back several years. It happened when Lazenby was run out of the role back in 1969, and the Bond franchise didn't really recover until arguably The Spy Who Loved Me (but IMO, it took all the way until FYEO to really get things back on track with where they were around GF and TB) and it wrecked the chance of having one of the most intriguing stories in the Bond canon being told: Bond going after Blofeld and Irma Bunt for the death of Tracy. Instead, because of the press, who caused the public to turn on Lazenby before they had even seen one frame of him as Bond, we were forced to give up that great storyline in favor of it being very lightly glossed over in the PTS of DAF before going into what would become the granddady of the Bond slapstick comedies. Sadly, I fear that the same thing will happen to Craig, although I think that he'll last through a second film because I don't see Wilson and Brocolli as the types who would drop the style of film that they've wanted to make for so long just because of one bad box office return.

Ultimately, what I think will happen with Craig is that we'll get a film in Casino Royale that is the Bond fans' dream: a great film based on the best of Fleming's novels, with the best cast that has ever been assembled for a Bond film (outside of perhaps FRWL and OHMSS), and a very risky film that breathes new life into the series. What I think will happen for Bond 22 is that CR won't do quite as well as Sony was hoping for, and they force EON to make DAD 2, and we see Craig looking absolutely ridiculous in a film that resembles the Brosnan Era films. If that happens, I think that Craig would probably walk from the role, and I would certainly support him for doing that because it would be a waste of his talents if that were to happen, and sadly I think it will because it happened to Lazenby 40 years ago. The press ultimately had a big hand in the downfall of George Lazenby, and they're looking like they're going down the same path with Daniel Craig, but now with the advent of the Internet and other mass communication tools, they'll be even more effective this time around if it continues.

And I applaud Michael Wilson and Barbara Brocolli for taking a risk on Craig. I've been very critical of them in the past, but them taking a chance on Craig shows that they are not content to continue making TND and DAD style films that lack any substance whatsoever. Sadly, I think that much like Dalton, Craig will ultimately be an unpopular Bond who actually saved the Bond franchise from destroying itself from a stylistic standpoint.

[Flash1087]

More importantly, when is Daniel Craig's mother going to weigh in on the issue?

"Now you all leave my little Danny alone! He's a right good actor and I'm sure he'll do just fine in...what was it he was doing?"

[Qwerty]

[quote name='Mister Asterix' post='522887' date='23 February 2006 - 15:29']
[mra]Why can

[mccartney007]

Don't know if anyone caught this from earlier this year, so apologies if this is a redundant post!

Bond villain defends actor Craig
By Simon Holden in London

Former Bond villain Toby Stephens has defended the latest 007 star Daniel Craig in the wake of criticism from some fans over his casting.

On Wednesday, website Craignotbond.com asked fans to boycott the new film Casino Royale, saying Craig's casting was "ruining the future" of James Bond.

Stephens, who played Gustav Graves in 2002's Die Another Day, said Bond was becoming "too cliched and unrealistic".

He said the casting of Craig in the lead role was "inspired".

"The last Bond film took it to an extreme in one direction and it became fantastical," he said.

"It was all those things people want from Bond but it was stretched to its absolute limit."

Stephens, who is starring in upcoming ITV1 drama The Best Man, said the decision to choose Craig as the latest bond took the character "back to its roots".

"Craig is a serious actor and doesn't look like a traditional James Bond," he said.

"He is a very dark actor and a very interesting one and I think he will be brilliant. It will reinvigorate the whole thing.

"It is not going to be to everyone's taste but that is the thing when you take over a role, you are not going to please everyone."

British actor Craig, 37, was announced as the sixth James Bond in October last year.

Best-known for his roles in gangster thriller Layer Cake and the recent Spielberg drama Munich, he has been the subject of media criticism since he made his debut as the secret agent at a lacklustre press conference.

Earlier this week former Bond star Pierce Brosnan defended his successor. "I think Daniel is a very fine actor," he said.

And veteran actor Christopher Lee has also called on critics to give the new Bond star a chance.

"People should not pass judgment until they have seen the film," said Lee, a former Bond villain and a distant cousin of 007 creator Ian Fleming.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ent/4744732.stm

[ACE]

Isn't Toby your new bestest m8, Macca 007?
Nice work!

[mccartney007]

Isn't Toby your new bestest m8, Macca 007?
Nice work!

I don't know if I'd call him my "bestest m8", but he certainly is a good friend whom I still keep in touch with.

[elvis-the-burgerking]

Good one toby thanks for your post.
His old man stood up for him a while ago in an interview when the reporters where giving it some about him beeing scared of guns being blonde ect ect its nice to see some support for the guy than attacking him.

[medrecess]

The only person who can answer the critics is DC himself.Not Toby ,not Pierce
or his mother.