Daniel Craig has earned his license to kill. When it was announced that he would replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, the near-universal reaction was outrage. Bond fans in the U.K. went so far as to launch a website that included doctored photos of Craig as Vladimir Putin and Al Bundy and called for a boycott of the actor. The press skewered him as “Bland, James Bland.”But then came Craig’s performance as Bond in Casino Royale, arguably one of the best 007 pictures. The new Bond was favorably compared to the legendary, adored Sean Connery, who also sang Craig’s praises. Craig’s former critics ate crow, admitting he was the first to truly capture Bond creator Ian Fleming’s dark, occasionally vicious characterization. The Boston Globe wrote, “The most mocked of Bonds is now fast on his way to generating perhaps the best reviews of anyone in the 007 club for his brutal and engrossing performance.”
The film grossed nearly $600 million, trouncing earlier 007 films and setting the bar high for Quantum of Solace, the new Bond installment, opening this month. In the movie, which picks up an hour after Casino Royale leaves off, Craig, 40, is back—moodier and more pissed off than ever. Bond’s overriding modus operandi: revenge, following the murder of Vesper, his lover in the earlier film.
Craig is from Chester, England, where his father was a merchant seaman and owned a pub called Ring O’ Bells. After his parents split, in 1972, Craig was raised by his mother, an art teacher, in Liverpool. He left school at 16 to study at the National Youth Theater in London. He earned his living as a waiter and enrolled in the Guildhall School of Music & Drama at the Barbican, where he studied alongside Ewan McGregor and Joseph Fiennes. He graduated in 1991.
When Craig was selected to play Bond, much was made about his size (at five-foot-11, he’s the shortest Bond), his piercing blue eyes and his hair color (he’s the first blond). But he has subsequently been crowned one of the sexiest men by Elle magazine. And apparently he’ll soon leave bachelorhood behind: He is romantically linked to Satsuki Mitchell, the actress who accompanied him to the Casino Royale world premiere. He has a teenage daughter, Ella, from a previous marriage.
Soon after Craig completed the filming of Quantum of Solace in Italy, Australia and South America, Playboy sent contributing editor David Sheff, who recently interviewed Fareed Zakaria for the magazine, to meet Craig in London. Sheff reports: “When I arrived in the U.K., a customs agent asked if I was there on business or pleasure. I explained I was in town to interview Daniel Craig, at which point her mood swung from chilly and suspicious to swooning. ‘Oh my God,’ she said, almost hyperventilating. ‘His photo’s near my bed. He’s the sexiest.’
“He’s also an impressive actor, as I was reminded before the interview when I attended screenings of Quantum of Solace and Defiance, in which Craig plays one of three brothers who hide, and save, hundreds of Belarusan Jews from Hitler’s local collaborators. The contrast between the roles couldn’t have been more extreme, but Craig rose to the occasion in both the action-adventure and dramatic films.
“And yes, he’s charming and suave. He drank coffee, not martinis, but he’s Bond-like even in blue jeans instead of a Brioni suit.”
