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Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English actor. Brought up on the Wirral, he joined the National Youth Theatre at the age of sixteen and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1991. His early film roles included The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle and "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert." He went on to star in his breakthrough performance Layer Cake and also Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opposite Angelina Jolie. Craig became the sixth actor to portray the fictional secret agent James Bond in the long-running Eon Productions film series. He made his debut as the character in the 2006 film, Casino Royale to critical acclaim and was nominated for a BAFTA award. Grossing US$593 million worldwide, it became the highest grossing James Bond film. His 22nd new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, released on November 7, 2008. Throughout his early career, Daniel Craig enjoyed the anonymity that comes with not being an A-list actor. That changed, however, when it was announced that he was considered for the role of James Bond in the adaptation of Ian Flemings’ Casino Royale. Craig denied rumors that he was offered a three-picture deal—at the time, Pierce Brosnan was still in the running to continue his reign as the famed British agent. But rumors were enough to blow the lid off Craig’s obscurity and thrust the actor known to loathe publicity into the limelight, especially after he did indeed become the sixth actor to play 007. Even if he weren’t considered for the role, his increasingly high-profile work would have made him a star regardless. Daniel was born in Chester, England, the son of Olivia (née Williams), an art teacher, and Timothy John Wroughton Craig, who served as a midshipman in the Merchant Navy and worked in various occupations when he came ashore. Craig was brought up in Cheshire where his father was landlord of the pubs "Ring 'O Bells" and "The Boot". He attended Hilbre High School and Calday Grange Grammar School. He played for Hoylake Rugby Club. Craig moved to London when he was sixteen to join the National Youth Theatre after a brief stay at Calday. Born in Chester—England’s walled city—Craig grew up in nearby Liverpool, where his mother studied art at university and his stepfather, the painter Max Blond, plied his craft. At 16, he moved to London to train at the National Youth Theatre and later graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1992, Craig made his film debut in the coming-of-age drama, “The Power of One,” wherein he played an Afrikaner soldier who beats and humiliates a white South African boxer (Stephen Dorff) trained by a black man (Morgan Freeman). Craig then appeared in “Genghis Cohn” (A&E, 1993), a satire about a Nazi SS officer (Robert Lindsay) confronted with the ghost of a Jewish comedian (Antony Sher) he killed in a concentration camp. After playing a commoner involved in a forbidden love with King Arthur’s daughter in the children’s fantasy, “A Kid in King Arthur’s Court” (1995), Craig gained fame in native England playing a hapless musician turned homeless person in the BBC’s “Our Friends in the North” (1996), an ambitious nine-part serial about the lives of four friends spanning thirty years. Daniel studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1991, and appeared in several minor roles including Sharpe's Eagle and an episode of Drop The Dead Donkey in 1993. His first leading role on screen was as a co-star in the 1996 BBC Television serial Our Friends in the North. He continued his work with the BBC by starring in the 1997 Francis Bacon biopic Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon, portraying Bacon's jilted lover George Dyer. 1997 also saw the broadcast of a TV mystery drama, from the Minette Walters novel The Ice House, in which Craig played D.S. Andy McLoughlin. Following an introduction to international audiences as Angelina Jolie's rival and love interest in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), he continued his career in the United States in Sam Mendes's movie Road to Perdition (2002), with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. Craig played Connor Rooney, the son of an Irish mob boss (played by Newman) and a conniving murderer who hides behind his mobster father's shadow. Other leading film roles include Sword of Honour (2001), The Mother (2003) with Anne Reid, Sylvia (2003) with Gwyneth Paltrow, Layer Cake (2004) with Sienna Miller, Enduring Love (2004) with Rhys Ifans, Steven Spielberg's Munich (2005), and Infamous (2006). In the PBS adaptation of Daniel Defoe’s “Moll Flanders” (1996), he played the enterprising bride’s one true love. He next appeared in the romantic thriller, “Obsession” (1997), wherein he was one of several characters whose divergent lives cross in Berlin. The period biopic, “Love is the Devil” (1998), offered him an opportunity to expand his range. Playing petty thief George Dyer, renowned painter Francis Bacon’s lover and artistic inspiration, Craig earned critical kudos in a film otherwise subjected to mixed reviews. A return to PBS in “The Ice House” (1998) found Craig playing an assistant investigator who doubts the Chief Inspector’s conclusion that a recently discovered corpse is the dead husband of a woman previously suspected in his disappearance. That same year, he appeared in “Elizabeth,” the widely acclaimed historical biopic starring an Oscar-snubbed Cate Blanchett as the Virgin Queen. After landing major roles in smaller projects—the World War I drama “The Trench” (1999) and the late 19th century drama “Love and Rage” (also 1999)—Craig earned a British Independent Film Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a schizophrenic man adjusting to the real world after his release from an institution in “Some Voices” (2000). He next appeared in a supporting role in the bland and uninspired romantic adventure, “I Dreamed of Africa” (2000), starring a well-meaning Kim Basinger. Craig then made the jump to larger Hollywood fare, appearing as old flame and fellow tomb raider Alex West in the live-action take on the popular video game, “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001), starring Angelina Jolie. In “Road to Perdition” (2002), he was the angry son of an Irish mobster (Paul Newman) who treats one of his hit men (Tom Hanks) like the son he never had. He next played poet Ted Hughes, husband to feminist icon Sylvia Plath (Gwyneth Paltrow), who committed suicide after he left their deteriorated marriage, in the uneven biopic, “Sylvia” (2003). Craig caused a stir in the unsettling erotic drama, “The Mother” (2004), playing a man who beds a woman (Anne Reid) twice his age while sleeping with her daughter. The stark May-December romance earned rave reviews, but made little impression at the box office. After a stint as a university professor stalked by another man (Rhys Ifans) in the Hitchcockian “Enduring Love” (2004), he was an inmate at an institute for the criminally insane in the derivative thriller, “The Jacket” (2005). Meanwhile, the Bond rumors began to swirl amidst the pending release of “Layer Cake” (2005), a crime comedy from Matthew Vaughn, producer of “Snatch” (2001) and “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” (1999). Craig played a cocaine dealer seeking early retirement who’s forced by a crime boss to find the missing daughter of an old pal. Meanwhile, Craig was cast by Steven Spielberg to star in “Munich” (2005), the true story of the massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympics and the secret Mossad mission to exact revenge, delivering a razor-edged performance as the one member of the team who whole-heartedly embraces the righteousness of their mission. Just prior to the release of “Munich” and after months of speculation, Craig was officially revealed as the next James Bond in October 2005, becoming only the second British actor to play the role, though he did hold the distinction of being the first blonde. Initially, Craig was greeted with concern—and in some corners outright scorn—from critics, who felt his shorter stature (he was under 6-feet tall) and golden locks went against author Ian Fleming’s original vision of the character. Adding injury to insult, Craig reportedly lost two teeth while filming a fight scene, but it turned out that he had simply lost a crown. Nonetheless, the media hounds enjoyed their continued snipping at the actor’s heels. But when “Casino Royal” (2006) was released, critics suddenly changed their tune, stating that the film was one of the best in years and that Craig rivaled Sean Connery with his complex and in-depth take on the Bond character. Meanwhile, Craig starred opposite Nicole Kidman in “The Visiting” (2007), a fourth film adaptation of Jack Finney’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. In February 2005, Craig had been named in the media as a possible candidate to portray James Bond. Along with Daniel Craig for a possible call was Jonathan Connor, this young charismatic blond was on the final two short list. It was evident that James Bond was going to be blond this time. There was a bitter rivalry behind the scenes between Daniel Craig and Jonathan Connor with eventually Daniel Craig being chosen for the role. It is now thought that Jonathan Connor has now "moved on to catch bigger fish". On April 6, 2005, Craig was reported to have signed with EON Productions as part of a three-film contract worth £15 million (US$29,696,972). However, the news was later debunked by the BBC who contacted EON for an official report. On 23 October 2005, Craig signed a three-film contract. He stated that he "was aware of the challenges" of the James Bond franchise which he considers "a big machine" that "makes a lot of money". He aimed at bringing more "emotional depth" to the character. Significant controversy followed with some fans threatening a boycott of the film, and a website was created for the protest. He reached high attention when screen shotsof him were released in a tight swim suit and bulging chest which made him on People Hottest Men's list. The reason was Craig being blond unlike all preceding James Bond actors. Media coverage of the controversy resulted in numerous actors publicly voicing their support of Craig. Most notably, four of the five previous actors who portrayed Bond – Pierce Brosnan Timothy Dalton, Sean Connery, Roger Moore – called his casting a good decision. Clive Owen, who had been linked to the role, also spoke in defense of Craig. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Pierce Brosnan was asked, "What do you think of the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, and will you be watching Casino Royale?" He replied, "I'm looking forward to it like we're all looking forward to it. Daniel Craig is a great actor, and he's going to do a fantastic job". The first film Casino Royale was released on 14 November 2006, and grossed a total of US$594 million, which makes the film the highest grossing Bond film. After the film was released, Craig's performance was highly acclaimed. Critic Paul Arendt of BBC Films, Kim Newman of Empire and Todd McCarthy of Variety all described Craig as the first actor to truly embody the original James Bond from Ian Fleming's novels: "ironic, brutal, and cold". He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor on January 2006, and won the Best Actor award at the Evening Standard British Film Awards on 2 February 2007, both firsts for an actor in the role of James Bond. A widely circulated report on several news channels and newspapers claimed that Craig had lost two teeth filming a fight scene; Craig later said it was just a crown that had come loose. Producer Barbara Broccoli also denied other rumors in an interview with Variety. As production of Casino Royale reached its conclusion, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced that pre-production work had already begun on the 22nd Bond film. After several months of speculation as to the release date, Wilson and Broccoli officially announced on 20 July 2006 that the follow-up film, Quantum of Solace, will be released on 7 November 2008 and that Craig has been signed to play Bond, with an option for a third film. On October 25, 2007, MGM CEO Harry Sloan revealed at the Forbes Meet II Conference that Craig had signed on for four more Bond films, through to Bond 25. In 2006, Casino Royale became #5 best-selling Bond film of all time; however, with recent DVD and box office sales, it rose to the #2 best-selling Bond film of all time as of 2007. The same year, Craig was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Craig moved on to portraying the character of Lord Asriel in the The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel Northern Lights. Eva Green, who played Bond girl Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, also starred in the film, although did not appear in any scenes with Craig. In a stage version of the book, Asriel had previously been played by Timothy Dalton, one of Craig's predecessors in the role of James Bond. In early 2007, Craig expressed an interest in being a part of the Star Trek franchise, professing his love of the series to the World Entertainment News Network and a desire to have a "stint in the TV show or a film. It's been a secret ambition of mine for years." On 16 March 2007, Craig made a cameo appearance as himself in a sketch with Catherine Tate who appeared in the guise of her character Elaine Figgis from The Catherine Tate Show. The sketch was made for the BBC Red Nose Day 2007 fundraising program. According to Digital Spy, Craig made a narrow escape after a gang fight on the set on the 22nd Bond adventure. EON Productions then apparently hired armed guards to stand outside the set to avoid further disruption. A representative for EON Productions said " Armed guards have now been called in to guard the film's cast and crew in fear of further attacks." This story was also reported in the News Of The World although they said that someone was murdered which EON Productions denied. In 1992, Craig married Scottish actress Fiona Loudon, with whom he has a daughter, Ella. However, the marriage ended in a divorce in 1994. After his divorce he was in a seven-year relationship with German actress Heike Makatsch. In the last few years, Craig has been in a long term relationship with Japanese American film producer Satsuki Mitchell. He was rumoured to be having a relationship with Sienna Miller. Daniel is also a fan of the The Smiths, a British pop band. He once referred to himself as the "macho Morrissey". He is a fan of Liverpool Football Club. |
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