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Daniel Craig talks about his life in the eyes of
the public as James Bond, the success of Casino Royale,
and a few tidbits about the upcoming Bond 22
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Craig On Bond (2)
24th November 2007
During a promotional tour for his latest movie "The Golden Compass",
Daniel Craig appeared on the Jonathan Ross show on BBC1 on Friday
23rd November 2007. Inevitably, talk turned to his successful
debut outing as James Bond in "Casino
Royale", and the forthcoming
22nd adventure...
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Craig was asked why he was initially reluctant
to take on the Bond role. "I kinda walked away from
it at first because I couldn't wrap my head around it,
and I didn't see myself doing it - simple as that. Just
as an
actor, I hadn't envisaged myself playing the role. I genuinely
thought they were having a bit of a giggle when they offered
it. It wasn't on my radar at all. I knew that once I decided
I was going to do it we had to do something different,
and I wasn't going to get involved unless we did something
like
that - Casino Royale. And now we have the chance to push
that on a bit [with Bond 22]."
As with all his predecessors, the image of James Bond can
hang heavy and impact day to day life like no other movie
role. Craig was asked if his routine has changed since this
time last year. "Yes. I can't go to the pub anymore,
for very long anyway - I can go in and grab a couple of pints
then run out. People tend to use their mobile phones on me
alot, they carefully bring them around and take a quick picture." |
In an interview with The
Times earlier in the week, Craig explained
that he was accepting of his new status, but there were limits. "You
know, if I'm up for it, fine. I have to keep hold of my sense
of humour, because you can lose it very quickly and you start
retreating into yourself; then you can’t go anywhere unless
you are with armed guards, and the whole thing becomes ridiculous.
So you have to smile about these things. But I tell you, trying
to take pictures of me when I’m having a piss is not welcome
and never will be. And yes, that’s happened."
One of the stand-out features of Casino Royale was the 'back
to basics' approach with the stunt work. Craig said he had fun
working on the action sequences, but "they are very carefully
planned and - literally - today [Thursday
22nd
November]
I started
rehearsals for the next Bond film which we start shooting in
January. So we have a month of rehearsals now to try and get
the action
sequences as carefully choreographed as possible so when we get
there a) we don't get hurt and b) we make it look right."
When asked about how the crane sequences
were shot and the challenges he faced, Craig said "It
was pretty high up, I had to get over that. I didn't do
the really high stuff, but we had a crane rigged on top
of a platform on top of a building ... it was high!"
"I did
have to breath deeply. But I thought if they were confident
enough to let me [do the stunts] then I should do them
because it's my face and I think people can tell."
Craig was (expectedly) tight-lipped about
the upcoming Bond 22, and when asked if the film had a
title yet he said, "it's called Bond 22 at the moment,
we haven't got a title. I can't tell you if we did anyway!".
When pressed if it would hearken back to any of the previous
titles, Craig smiled and said "err, no, it won't".
Recently, Craig
signed a contract for four more 007 outings following Casino Royale, which would take him
up to Bond 25.
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In a brief segment edited out of the transmitted show, Craig
was asked how long he planned on staying in the role. "Until
they tell me to stop", he said. "I want to get the
next one right and we'll go from there. I'm free to do what I
want but I've got no plans to stop"
Craig also talked about his
appearance in Casino Royale in a press
interview this week, and
how he was shaping up for his next outing as 007. "Arrghh!
I was big for the last one, and it wasn’t a mistake, it
was a definite statement. This guy, when he takes his shirt off,
should look like he could kill someone", Craig told The Times.
"After it finished, I stopped training. I got drunk for three
months! No, I didn’t, but certainly relaxed for three
months and ate what I wanted, and then it’s hell because
as soon as you get back in the gym, you have to work all that
off, and it takes much longer than it does to put it on. Last
time I did a lot of weights to bulk up because I had to do it
quickly. This time I’m going to do more boxing and more
running. I need to be physically strong for Bond and, as much
as I looked in great shape, I got a lot of injuries, probably
due to the fact that I wasn’t doing enough running and
jumping, which is what I needed to do in the film. I won’t
look physically much different, but I won’t be as ‘no
neck’ as I was last time."