REPORT
Bond retrospective: Six
actors who played 007
B
ritish actor Daniel Craig plays James Bond for the
fourth time in the new 007 film Spectre and would
be nearing the end of his Bond career. He is the
sixth star to play the suave secret agent in the official
Bond movies over more than half a century. Although the
47-year-old British actor has said he would “rather slash
my wrists“ than play the suave spy again, telling Time
Out magazine: “All I want to do is move on.“ While he has
also suggested that he will continue, Craig's comments
show at least an ambivalence about the all-consuming
role of Bond from an actor who guards his privacy closely and enjoys a quiet pint in the pub. When he was first
named as Bond in 2005, taking over from Pierce Brosnan, many questioned whether the blond-haired, blueeyed, gym-sculpted Craig was the right man for the job.
Even Sam Mendes, the director of Spectre, was initially
sceptical. “I thought Bond had become the opposite of
what Daniel is — a slightly disengaged, urbane, jokey,
eyebrow-raising, you know, a pastiche in a way,” he told
the BBC. But the intensity Craig has brought to the part
has allowed the multi-million dollar franchise to be rebooted with a harder, more serious edge and won round
many of the sceptics. Roger Moore, one of his predecessors, has called Craig the best Bond ever and told
Time magazine that his performances had “guaranteed
Bond another 50 years of life”. Fans have also got used
to seeing the star, who is contracted to do one more
film, play one of the most iconic parts in cinema. “That
great big handsome-Shrek face with its sweetly bat ears
has grown into the role,” the Guardian newspaper's fivestar review of Spectre said. Here is a filmography of the
franchise:
1. Sean Connery
1962: Dr. No
1963: From Russia with Love
1964: Goldfinger
1965: Thunderball
1967: You Only Live Twice
1971: Diamonds Are Forever
Connery returned to play Bond in 1983 in Never Say
Never Again, which was not part of the official franchise.
2. George Lazenby
1969: On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. Roger Moore