Craig Turned Down Bond
#1
Posted 24 July 2011 - 02:50 AM
"I was like, ‘This is silly. I’ve got a career. I mean, lovely, thank you very much, I’m very honoured that you would even consider it, but I can’t do it-sorry."
He goes on to add that he gave in because the script was good. I'm not a Bond fanatic who thinks that everyone should like or be appreciative of the world of James Bond.
But from what Craig said above I got the impression that he thought that Bond was beneath him. If this was his attitude to begin with and he thinks that the role was beneath him and he's too good for it. Then IMO he shouldn't have taken it to begin with. There are many actors out there who would be more appreciative and would have done a better job.
#2
Posted 24 July 2011 - 03:08 AM
I picked up Entertainment Weekly today in order to read the interview with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. I was surprised to read that Craig originally turned down Bond. Saying that:
"I was like, ‘This is silly. I’ve got a career. I mean, lovely, thank you very much, I’m very honoured that you would even consider it, but I can’t do it-sorry."
He goes on to add that he gave in because the script was good. I'm not a Bond fanatic who thinks that everyone should like or be appreciative of the world of James Bond.
But from what Craig said above I got the impression that he thought that Bond was beneath him. If this was his attitude to begin with and he thinks that the role was beneath him and he's too good for it. Then IMO he shouldn't have taken it to begin with. There are many actors out there who would be more appreciative and would have done a better job.
1)The way things were in 2002, the role WAS beneath him;
2)We´re lucky to have a thespian with his chops;
3)Thank heavens that the script was good enough to call on some talent, let´s hope Bond23 does the same;
4)That EW interview was shockingly bad. Everything on it was designed to make Craig and Ford look like tough bully snobs.
Edited by univex, 24 July 2011 - 03:09 AM.
#3
Posted 24 July 2011 - 04:52 AM
#4
Posted 24 July 2011 - 06:40 AM
Nor is Craig the first to, if not exactly believe that Bond is "beneath him", then certainly not to think that Bond is the be all and end all. I remember Barry Norman relating a tale of an interview he had on the set of "The Longest Day" with a Scottish actor. When asked what he was doing next, this Scot mentioned, almost casually, that he was appearing in a film as James Bond. It was as if it was just another job. Admittedly it was at a stage when no-one could have predicted just what a phenomenon Bond would become, but Sean Connery (for it was he, of course!) didn't sound, to Barry Norman at least, like a man who thought he had landed his dream role. He was pleased, of course. But Bond actors had a career before Bond, plot a career path between Bond, and have to consider their career after Bond.
As for Daniel Craig, I'm firmly in the "pro" camp. The series has been very fortunate to have him in the role. Thank goodness that, in the end, he accepted.
#5
Posted 24 July 2011 - 09:19 AM
Edited by Germanlady, 24 July 2011 - 09:20 AM.
#6
Posted 24 July 2011 - 11:06 AM
#7
Posted 24 July 2011 - 12:35 PM
#8
Posted 24 July 2011 - 04:08 PM
He isn't the first to turn down the role when offered - I think Timothy Dalton did at one time, but on the grounds that he considered himself too young for the role.
I believe he actually turned out down 3 times before accepting the role. First OHMSS, one of them was after for your eyes only, and the second was I think inbetween the two
#9
Posted 24 July 2011 - 04:18 PM
I picked up Entertainment Weekly today in order to read the interview with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. I was surprised to read that Craig originally turned down Bond. Saying that:
"I was like, ‘This is silly. I’ve got a career. I mean, lovely, thank you very much, I’m very honoured that you would even consider it, but I can’t do it-sorry."
He goes on to add that he gave in because the script was good. I'm not a Bond fanatic who thinks that everyone should like or be appreciative of the world of James Bond.
But from what Craig said above I got the impression that he thought that Bond was beneath him. If this was his attitude to begin with and he thinks that the role was beneath him and he's too good for it. Then IMO he shouldn't have taken it to begin with. There are many actors out there who would be more appreciative and would have done a better job.
I see where he's coming from. Look at the creative state the Bond movies were in. Had the Brosnan era maintained the level of GE and better yet the style and competencies of the first 4 Bond movies, Craig's response would have been different. Lets be honest, the Bond movies had really fallen into a sad sorry state of silliness, even self parodying at times, it's not what Craig's looking for. However, with a scrip like CR, it's easy to see why he eventually came on board. The cartoony gags and absurdity were done away with in favour of a more serioud and dignified approach.
#10
Posted 24 July 2011 - 05:12 PM
Absolutely.This isn't anything new, it's widely known he said no when they first approached him. In fact I think he even says so in an interview on the DVD.
At the end of the day it's a press story and something quotable to say to reporters. Besides isn't there is another story along the lines Craig was out grocery shopping when he finally heard he got the part then bought some booze to celebrate?
#11
Posted 24 July 2011 - 08:50 PM
There are many actors out there who would be more appreciative and would have done a better job.
I can't think of any - let alone "many" - actors out there who would have done a better job.
#12
Posted 24 July 2011 - 10:14 PM
I assumed it was only the once, when he was offered the role after Connery first quit, but given the occasions in the early 1980s when Roger Moore was "about to quit" and didn't, I should not have been surprised if Dalton was approached about taking over. It seems Tim was always a player in the "next James Bond" stakes, and not the last minute dark horse choice he was portrayed as in 1986.
He isn't the first to turn down the role when offered - I think Timothy Dalton did at one time, but on the grounds that he considered himself too young for the role.
I believe he actually turned out down 3 times before accepting the role. First OHMSS, one of them was after for your eyes only, and the second was I think inbetween the two
#13
Posted 25 July 2011 - 01:35 AM
#14
Posted 25 July 2011 - 02:50 AM
But anyway some a star don't think he or she is good enough for the role. Maybe at the time Craig saw it that way. Also maybe at the time he thinks his movie career going well and don't need any big to boost it. Maybe he tought he could become a A list star without it, like say Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Michael Douglas, George Cloony and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Last of all maybe he didn't know too much about James Bond, that do happen and never looked into it. That do happen, some who are not fans of Star Trek know nothing about it, and there will be some that not will know a little about it.
#15
Posted 25 July 2011 - 12:00 PM
#16
Posted 25 July 2011 - 04:14 PM
If Craig's reasons concerned the scripts, McGoohan's were more about the character of Bond. Take away the ambivalence about whether Bond was a "bad guy working for the good guys" (a question Craig pondered.) and the sexual element, and McGoohan could have played Bond. Except, of course, that it wouldn't have been Bond as Fleming envisaged him, let alone the film makers.
I enjoyed McGoohan both as Drake and as Number Six, but he played a different kind of "hero" to Bond. He never came close to a serious romantic relationship, let alone a one night stand with any leading lady in "Danger Man" or "The Prisoner". On the other hand he was a dab hand with his fists, and with gadgets, and one can imagine 007 driving a Lotus Super 7 around London, as did Six. (The title credit scene of "The Prisoner" is still, I think, my all time favourite TV series opener.)
The book, by the way, for those who are interested is titled "Not A Number - Patrick McGoohan - a life" by Rupert Booth.
#17
Posted 25 July 2011 - 05:08 PM
#18
Posted 25 July 2011 - 07:39 PM
But from what Craig said above I got the impression that he thought that Bond was beneath him. If this was his attitude to begin with and he thinks that the role was beneath him and he's too good for it. Then IMO he shouldn't have taken it to begin with. There are many actors out there who would be more appreciative and would have done a better job.
Most actors tend to view the James Bond role as beneath them. It's nothing new. Why make a big deal about it?
#19
Posted 25 July 2011 - 08:39 PM
But from what Craig said above I got the impression that he thought that Bond was beneath him. If this was his attitude to begin with and he thinks that the role was beneath him and he's too good for it. Then IMO he shouldn't have taken it to begin with. There are many actors out there who would be more appreciative and would have done a better job.
Most actors tend to view the James Bond role as beneath them. It's nothing new. Why make a big deal about it?
Ironically, I suspect Daniel Craig may have changed that perception.
#20
Posted 25 July 2011 - 09:04 PM
#21
Posted 25 July 2011 - 10:31 PM
I picked up Entertainment Weekly today in order to read the interview with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. I was surprised to read that Craig originally turned down Bond. Saying that:
"I was like, ‘This is silly. I’ve got a career. I mean, lovely, thank you very much, I’m very honoured that you would even consider it, but I can’t do it-sorry."
He goes on to add that he gave in because the script was good. I'm not a Bond fanatic who thinks that everyone should like or be appreciative of the world of James Bond.
But from what Craig said above I got the impression that he thought that Bond was beneath him. If this was his attitude to begin with and he thinks that the role was beneath him and he's too good for it. Then IMO he shouldn't have taken it to begin with. There are many actors out there who would be more appreciative and would have done a better job.
1)The way things were in 2002, the role WAS beneath him;
2)We´re lucky to have a thespian with his chops;
3)Thank heavens that the script was good enough to call on some talent, let´s hope Bond23 does the same;
4)That EW interview was shockingly bad. Everything on it was designed to make Craig and Ford look like tough bully snobs.
Univex, you're 100% right IMO...
#22
Posted 25 July 2011 - 10:38 PM
I picked up Entertainment Weekly today in order to read the interview with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. I was surprised to read that Craig originally turned down Bond. Saying that:
"I was like, ‘This is silly. I’ve got a career. I mean, lovely, thank you very much, I’m very honoured that you would even consider it, but I can’t do it-sorry."
I really, really hope this isn't true.
That is, I really hope that Craig doesn't use that irritating expression "I was like" when he means "I said".
#23
Posted 26 July 2011 - 02:56 AM
I picked up Entertainment Weekly today in order to read the interview with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. I was surprised to read that Craig originally turned down Bond. Saying that:
"I was like, ‘This is silly. I’ve got a career. I mean, lovely, thank you very much, I’m very honoured that you would even consider it, but I can’t do it-sorry."
I really, really hope this isn't true.
That is, I really hope that Craig doesn't use that irritating expression "I was like" when he means "I said".
Oh God!
Craig's insistence that he initially turned down the role is a lot like John Kerry saying 'I voted for the bill before I voted against it'. Yeah, we know; they're both men of principle. But in the end they both took the money. It's meant to make Craig feel better about himself as he goes and cashes those big fat checks that SONY or EON have been writing him. I'm sure he's crying deep, salty tears of despair on his pillow every night for being such a sell-out.
What is with this hostility toward a man that any of us hardly know anything about?
#24
Posted 26 July 2011 - 06:39 AM
I picked up Entertainment Weekly today in order to read the interview with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. I was surprised to read that Craig originally turned down Bond. Saying that:
"I was like, ‘This is silly. I’ve got a career. I mean, lovely, thank you very much, I’m very honoured that you would even consider it, but I can’t do it-sorry."
I really, really hope this isn't true.
That is, I really hope that Craig doesn't use that irritating expression "I was like" when he means "I said".
Oh God!Craig's insistence that he initially turned down the role is a lot like John Kerry saying 'I voted for the bill before I voted against it'. Yeah, we know; they're both men of principle. But in the end they both took the money. It's meant to make Craig feel better about himself as he goes and cashes those big fat checks that SONY or EON have been writing him. I'm sure he's crying deep, salty tears of despair on his pillow every night for being such a sell-out.
What is with this hostility toward a man that any of us hardly know anything about?
Daniel Craig could save the world and gravity would find something nasty to say LOL - he is just being ridiculous, but that's nothing new.
AND BTW - they kept chasing him - they returned with the finished script and at the press conference it was said, that he was the only one, they offered the job REALLY. Obviously the tested others, but...
#25
Posted 26 July 2011 - 10:33 AM
I picked up Entertainment Weekly today in order to read the interview with Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. I was surprised to read that Craig originally turned down Bond. Saying that:
"I was like, ‘This is silly. I’ve got a career. I mean, lovely, thank you very much, I’m very honoured that you would even consider it, but I can’t do it-sorry."
I really, really hope this isn't true.
That is, I really hope that Craig doesn't use that irritating expression "I was like" when he means "I said".
Oh God!Craig's insistence that he initially turned down the role is a lot like John Kerry saying 'I voted for the bill before I voted against it'. Yeah, we know; they're both men of principle. But in the end they both took the money. It's meant to make Craig feel better about himself as he goes and cashes those big fat checks that SONY or EON have been writing him. I'm sure he's crying deep, salty tears of despair on his pillow every night for being such a sell-out.
What is with this hostility toward a man that any of us hardly know anything about?
Daniel Craig could save the world and gravity would find something nasty to say LOL - he is just being ridiculous, but that's nothing new.
AND BTW - they kept chasing him - they returned with the finished script and at the press conference it was said, that he was the only one, they offered the job REALLY. Obviously the tested others, but...
There´s no one quite like Gravity But I wouldn´t say he´s being ridiculous, he´s just stating what others don´t because they´re too afraid to call wolf all the time, in case the damn lupino shows up that is, which, one day, it does it always does.
Furthermore, I concour with Matt_13, this discussion is old news, not just because it refers to something Craig himself has officialy commented upon (and not though the worst on page interview I´ve read), but also because it will leave us with our feet cold and not under any blanket whatsoever.
I agree with Grav on this, it´s all about ego and massages (like everything should be in life), and like with other men of principles, we´re only left having to choose what and who to believe
Oh, Odd Jobbies, cheers
Edited by univex, 26 July 2011 - 10:34 AM.
#26
Posted 26 July 2011 - 10:59 AM
Very true Sir Loomis. Can´t think of one. The idea of Fassbender in the role has even died surprisingly very quickly Craig´s the man, he´d give Edward G. Robinson a run for his money in poker and Jackie Gleason would tremble with fear in the pool table. Mcqueen would hail him as is twin brother and successor and Newman would have a salad dressing named Craig´s OwnI can't think of any - let alone "many" - actors out there who would have done a better job.
There are many actors out there who would be more appreciative and would have done a better job.
Seriously now, I really hope Craig stays in the role for a long long time You´re spot on Loomis, as always.
Edited by univex, 26 July 2011 - 10:59 AM.
#27
Posted 26 July 2011 - 05:10 PM
The idea of Fassbender in the role has even died surprisingly very quickly
Indeed.
Well, *OBVIOUSLY* if they tested others then he wasn't "the only one", unless if by "the only one" you mean the only one Barbara Cauliflower was ever going to screen test and hire, even over the objections of Michael G. Wilson, Amy Paschal, and Martin Campbell (who *EVERYONE* knows wanted Henry Cavill) who all wanted to shop around for other candidates.
Nah, it seems from what (little) we (truly) know that Craig was always the chap Broccoli wanted. Perhaps she had him in her sights even when Brosnan was still Bond.
Obviously they needed to look at other candidates to satisfy the moneymen that due process had been followed ("Yep, we've auditioned or looked at 1,528 actors and have decided after this exhaustive search to go with Daniel"), and also in case Craig turned down the role or ended up unable to play it for whatever reason. But this is no slight towards Craig and does not chip away at his apparent "only one" status.
#28
Posted 26 July 2011 - 07:01 PM
There are many actors out there who would be more appreciative and would have done a better job.
I can't think of any - let alone "many" - actors out there who would have done a better job.
I think Daniel Craig was afraid of being typecast. There was a huge amount of hype before production began on CR & I believe the top 3 were him, Hugh Jackman & Clive Owen. I always thought Gerard Butler would've been a good choice.
Well, he's got the role now & so far, I've liked what he's done with it. Let's not forget that the longevity of the whole series has been on borrowed time for decades. Who's to say that it will last any further that the very next film?
#29
Posted 26 July 2011 - 07:35 PM
Well, *OBVIOUSLY* if they tested others then he wasn't "the only one", unless if by "the only one" you mean the only one Barbara Cauliflower was ever going to screen test and hire, even over the objections of Michael G. Wilson, Amy Paschal, and Martin Campbell (who *EVERYONE* knows wanted Henry Cavill) who all wanted to shop around for other candidates.
Well - sometimes its not enough to just give an answer - sometimes its necessary to think first and get the facts straight. You wanna place DC as Babs toyboy? Do it, but the fact remains, that M G Wilson stated it in the press conference, that he was the ONLY one, they offered the job. Other were only tested, but didn't get a job offer. There IS a difference between these two - you see? As much as you hate Craig, this is the fact. BTW - I let you play for a long time now without interrupting - now didn't I?
AND BTW - Martin Campbell said, that he wasn't sure about DC, but once they had him on film, he KNEW, he would make a great Bond.
Gravity - you need to watch the press conference again - (reading your post above - he was the ONLY one and again - I quote the Wilson himself=. So - instead of talking nonsense - go watch that clip. I am sure, its still online.
Edited by Germanlady, 26 July 2011 - 07:43 PM.
#30
Posted 26 July 2011 - 09:01 PM