Finding James Bond's Dark Side In Casino Royale
Official ‘Casino Royale’ Teaser Poster
Daniel Craig has spoken to The Telegraph on the bruises, criticism, and other aspects associated with playing James Bond in Casino Royale.
It’s no secret that Craig was criticized by fans and newspapers early on during the filming, and it gets a mention in nearly every interview since.
When asked about it, Craig said: ‘One of the things I was criticised for was that I looked like a bad guy, but I was happy with that because I think true good guys have to step into the dark side to do their job. I wanted people to question Bond’s morals and his judgment.’
As he has discovered, each new Bond film is incredibly important to the fans: ‘I didn’t want to miss a trick, but then I pushed it all behind me because I wanted to take it in a new direction and move forward with it. That responsibility was very, very strong in my mind.’
The recent Casino Royale press reviews are comparing Craig’s debut as 007 to the days of the Sean Connery films, and indeed, Connery himself.
‘Sean Connery set and defined the character,’ said Craig. ‘He did something extraordinary with that role. He was bad, sexy, animalistic and stylish, and it is because of him I am here today. I wanted Sean Connery’s approval and he sent me messages of support, which meant a lot to me.’
‘I wanted to do as much of the action work as I could, so that the audience can see it’s me and it’s real,’ he says while speaking about Casino Royale‘s rigorous action sequences. ‘I feel like I became a sportsman of sorts, and that meant acquiring injuries and carrying on and bashing through to the next level of pain. Although the stunt team did fantastic work to make sure that everything was as safe as possible, if you don’t get bruised playing Bond, you’re not doing it properly.’
‘I’m certainly going to try to get as much out of it as I can,’ says Craig. ‘Of course I am always going to think about whether it is going to limit what I do. I plan for it not to, but if it does, I’ll approach that problem when it comes.’
Click here to read the entire article on Daniel Craig and Casino Royale on The Telegraph.
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