Daniel Craig’s debut as James Bond was not easy. Actor and producer Barbara Broccoli remember particularly difficult times before and during the filming of “Casino Royale”.
While Dying Can Wait, the final installment of Daniel Craig in the James Bond costume, is about to be released in French theaters, the opportunity is great to remember the actor’s complicated beginnings in 007. When he was chosen for the role in October 2005, Craig was indeed exhausted as never before by the critics even before any image of Casino Royale, his first appearance in Bond, was released.
“When there was this press attack on Daniel, at the time of Casino Royale, it was brutal”, remembers producer Barbara Broccoli in the documentary AppleTV + Being James Bond. “Why? Because he was a blond James Bond? Wasn’t Roger Moore blond? It was so irrational. They hadn’t seen him in the role!”
“It was so irresponsible that people had put this together from scratch”, continues the producer, quite irritated on the subject. “What was it based on? On a few teenagers who had started a website called ‘CraigNotBond’, and all these news agencies had treated it like it was real news. as the opinion of a few kids who hadn’t seen a single image in the film. “
Daniel Craig, also in the documentary AppleTV +, recalls: “Someone said to me, ‘You shouldn’t be going on the Internet. There’s a little problem. “I went there and stayed there all night. I read it all, that’s what happens when you start. It was hard, very, very hard. It was filled with hate. I woke up the next morning and was like “Nothing f ***,” I know the movie will be good. “
“I also remember going back to the Bahamas at the worst of times”adds Barbara Broccoli. “We were under siege by the paparazzi. A guy had buried himself in the sand during the night before we came to shoot on the beach! It was crazy, it was crazy! “
“I remember then Daniel coming out of the water and the whole team exclaiming ‘Oh my God!’, concludes the producer, smiling again. “This is probably the only time a paparazzi snapshot, because it’s a leaked paparazzi photo, really changed the way people think of Daniel as James Bond. All of a sudden, everyone. said “Is that him? Is that the blonde? But look at those “pecs”! “Everything changed and he suddenly became the coolest guy on Earth.”
Sixteen years and a few missions after this eventful debut, Daniel Craig, whose legitimacy in the role of James Bond is no longer really discussed, says goodbye to his character with Dying Can Wait. To be discovered in theaters from October 6.
Have you noticed the little hidden details of “Casino Royale”?