Denton County Living Well Magazine November/December 2021 | Page 27

BARR

D ND el Craig was cast as the world ’ s most famous spy in 2005 , most fans took umbrage . A little-known British indie actor at the time , the 37 ything the iconic James Bond was considered not — short , brooding , ncharismatic — and most decidedly not Sean Connery , the actor to nds are compared . rd Bond fans set up websites to voice their disapproval — danielcraigisdnotblond . com . The press was equally unrelenting with headlines like “ The Name ’ s Bland — James Bland .” Talk of a 007 boycott intensified d by speedboat ( wearing a life jacket , of all things ) at the London press ng him as the new Bond . d that Bond would never be such a wuss as to don a life jacket , nor anything but a brunette . Among the biting online comments : “ Bring el looks like a villain in a Bond movie that gets killed by 007 in the .” “ I ’ m sure a blonde could play James Bond , but not someone who ’ s so atic as Daniel Craig .” m credits did nothing to bolster his “ super ” spy cred — Road to Perdiand Munich , to name a few . Not to mention the little-seen film , The e plays a carpenter who starts sleeping with a woman in her 60s . ’ t especially keen on the 007 role at first . He told GQ , “ It was genuinely g to get F *** ed if I do this .” He didn ’ t want to play what he perceived as rosnan version of Bond or be saddled with a hopelessly formulaic stolized that once he became the iconic spy there ’ d be no going back to his istence . Reading the script for Casino Royale changed the actor ’ s mind . s later , it ’ s hard to see anyone besides Craig inhabiting the role . His 7 portrayal has redefined the series and crafted it to be more modern nd misogynistic as earlier incarnations . he told The Independent ’ s Paul Whitington , “ all the social media stuff off , and I wasn ’ t used to using it , thank God . I still don ’ t do social mes there are lots of good things about it , it is a place for hate and I can ’ t would cope . All of that is a pressure , but I myself was like , you ’ ve just it , get on with the work and do your best .” Craig did . His first outing as 007 in Casino Royale necessitated he be dy for action , something Craig was decidedly not when he showed up f training .