Daniel Wroughton Craig CMG (born 2 March 1968 in Chester) is an English actor. His career took off with appearances in the classic miniseries Our Friends in the North and Sharpe, and movies such as Elizabeth and Layer Cake, but he's since become best known for one particular role...
Chosen by producer Barbara Broccoli to succeed Pierce Brosnan in the role in the 2006 reboot of the franchise, Casino Royale, he reprised it in 2008's Quantum of Solace, 2012's Skyfall, 2015's Spectre and 2021's No Time to Die. He was also used as the design base and voice of Bond in Blood Stone, the Quantum of Solace tie-in video game, and the remake of the GoldenEye 007 game for the Wii, and escorted none other than Queen Elizabeth II in a short film for the London Olympic Games' opening ceremony in 2012. Having played Bond for 15 years, his tenure has chronologically surpassed that of the previous longest, Roger Moore, whose tenure lasted 12 years (though Moore starred in seven Bond films while Craig starred in five, since Eon Productions notoriously slowed down their film output after 2008).
Despite being known primarily for Bond, Craig has had major roles in a number of other films, including Angelina Jolie's love interest / rival in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Irish mobster Conner Rooney in Road to Perdition (2002), Afrikaner Mossad team member Steve in the Spielberg directed Munich (2005), Lord Asriel in the film adaptation of The Golden Compass (2007), Dr. Ben Driscoll in The Invasion (2007), Jewish resistance leader Tuvia Bielski in Defiance (2008), protagonist Jake Lonergan of Cowboys & Aliens (2011), journalist Mikael Blomkvist in the David Fincher adaption of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Mr. Sakharine / Red Rackham in The Adventures of Tintin, or Deep South Demolitions Expert Joe Bang in Logan Lucky. Lately, he's found himself another film franchise role, the Southern Gentleman Detective Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson's whodunnits Knives Out and Glass Onion. A third film is on the way.
He also has had a long and healthy career as a stage actor, including playing Joe in the Royal National Theatre's production of Angels in America in addition to starring in Broadway productions of A Steady Rain (opposite Hugh Jackman), Harold Pinter's Betrayal and some Broadway/off-Broadway Shakespeare productions by director Sam Gold.
Also, Craig is One of Us, being a self-described "old hand Trekkie", as well as being a fan of Firefly and, of course, Doctor Who. It was also his idea to have "Orinoco Flow" playing over a certain key scene in Dragon Tattoo.
Daniel's second wife is Rachel Weisz since June 2011. They have a child since 2018. Both of them also have American nationality, although Craig was naturalized in 2019 in part due to his wife being a naturalized American in 2011.
On an unrelated sidenote, it's been shown as canon that he is Buffy and Faith's fantasy guy.
Roles
- The Power of One (1992) as Sgt. Jaapie Botha
- A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995) as Master Kane
- Obsession (1997) as John McHale
- Love and Rage (1998) as James Lynchehaun
- Elizabeth (1998) as John Ballard
- The Trench (1999) as Sgt. Telford Winter
- Some Voices (2000) as Ray
- Hotel Splendide (2000) as Ronald Blanche
- I Dreamed of Africa (2000) as Declan Fielding
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) as Alex West
- Ten Minutes Older: The Cello (2002) as Cecil Thomas
- Road to Perdition (2002) as Connor Rooney
- Sylvia (2003) as Ted Hughes
- The Mother (2003) as Darren
- Layer Cake (2004) as XXXX
- Enduring Love (2004) as Joe
- The Jacket (2005) as Rudy Mackenzie
- Fateless (2005) as an American Soldier
- Munich (2005) as Steve
- Renaissance (2006) as Barthélémy Karas
- Infamous (2006) as Perry Smith
- James Bond as Commander James Bond, codename 007
- Casino Royale (2006)
- Quantum of Solace (2008)
- Skyfall (2012)
- Spectre (2015)
- No Time to Die (2021)
- The Invasion (2007) as Ben Driscoll
- The Golden Compass (2007) as Lord Asriel
- Flashbacks of a Fool (2008) as Joe Scot
- Defiance (2008) as Tuvia Bielski
- One Life (2011 documentary) as the narrator
- Cowboys & Aliens (2011) as Jake Lonergan
- Dream House (2011) as Will Atenton / Peter Ward
- The Adventures of Tintin (2011) as Mr. Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine / Red Rackham
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) as Mikael Blomkvist
- Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) as Stormtrooper FN-1824 (cameo)
- Logan Lucky (2017) as Joe Bang
- Kings (2017) as Obie Harding
- Benoit Blanc Mysteries as as Benoit Blanc
- Knives Out (2019)
- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
- Zorro (1993) as Lt. Hidalgo
- Drop the Dead Donkey (1993) as Fixx
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993) as Schiller
- Between The Lines (1993) as Joe Rance
- Heartbeat (1993) as Peter Begg
- Screen Two (1993) as Lt. Guth
- Sharpe's Eagle (1993) as Lt. Berry
- Our Friends in the North (1996) as Geordie Peacock
- Tales from the Crypt (1996) as Barry
- Saint-Ex (1996) as Guillaumet
- Kiss and Tell (1996) as Matt Kearney
- The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996) as James "Jemmy" Seagrave
- The Hunger (1997) as Jerry Pritchard
- The Ice House (1997) as DS Andy McLoughlin
- Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998) as George Dyer
- Shockers: The Visitor (1999) as Richard
- Sword of Honour (2001) as Guy Crouchback
- Copenhagen (2002) as Werner Heisenberg
- Archangel (2005) as Prof. Fluke Kelso
- Saturday Night Live (2012) as himself (host)
- Superheroes Unite for BBC Children in Need (2014) as the narrator
- Comrade Detective (2017) as Father Anton Streza (voice)
- Saturday Night Live (2020) as himself (host)
- Angels in America, Royal National Theatre - London (1993) as Joe Pitt
- Hurlyburly, The Old Vic - London (1997) as Mickey
- A Number, Royal Court - London (2002) as Bernard 1, Bernard 2 and Michael Black
- A Steady Rain, Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre - New York City (2009) as Joey
- Betrayal, Ethel Barrymore Theatre - New York City (2013) as Robert
- Othello, New York Theatre Workshop - New York City (2016) as Iago
- Macbeth, Broadway's Lyceum Theatre - New York City (2022) as Lord Macbeth
Tropes found in his works:
- Ability over Appearance: Daniel Craig's initial casting as Bond caused some controversy among fans over a comparatively short (he's 5'10" where every other actor had been at least six feet tall), blonde man being cast in a role often for an actor who is Tall, Dark, and Handsome. On the other hand Craig's casting was notably praised including by every single previous actor to portray Bond. The glowingly positive reception of Casino Royale settled the matter. He even invoked this by refusing to dye his hair for the role, believing his performance would win people over on its own. Those shirtless scenes probably helped win over many ladies, too.
- Adam Westing: He occasionally has fun lampooning people's belief that he's as tough and suave as his most-famous character. Such as in this commercial
for Heineken, where he struggles to run for long and stops a band cold when they try to play the Bond theme. - Badass in a Nice Suit: Mostly as Bond but his other roles do have him looking fairly suave on occasion.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: He is known for having a very voluptuous physique, which also helps when he portrays Bond.
- Creator Couple: Starred with his wife Rachel Weisz in Dream House.
- Dyeing for Your Art:
- Dyed his hair darker for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
- Got into great shape for Casino Royale, though wouldn't dye his hair for the role, citing the above film and how it made him look "weird". He repeated the process for each Bond film for the obligatory Shirtless Scene.
- Gained thirty pounds for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo so he would look less like James Bond.
- Bleached his hair for Logan Lucky.
- Fake American: In The Jacket, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Cowboys & Aliens, Logan Lucky, Knives Out, and Glass Onion.
- Fake Nationality: South African in Munich and (Soviet) Belarusian in Defiance.
- Knight Fever: Made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in the 2022 New Year's Honours List. The CMG is not the award traditionally associated with actors... but rather with diplomats - and spies. Considering that the character he played also has a CMG, the choice is appropriate.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Like lasers.
- Large Ham: When he wants to be as his performance as Benoit Blanc can attest.
- Mr. Fanservice: He got into excellent shape for Bond and the films really like to show it off, usually with shirtless scenes. Even before that, he was the eye candy for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
- No Stunt Double: He does most of his stunts himself in his James Bond movies, to a degree never reached by his predecessors in the role. Which has resulted in multiple injuries.
- Precious Puppy: He appeared in a Omaze charity ad (with an Aston Martin as prize, of course) accompanied by a bunch of Golden Retriever puppies.
- Promoted Fanboy:
- A fan of His Dark Materials, he got to star as Lord Asriel in The Golden Compass.
- Also a fan of the Tomb Raider games, he starred in the film adaptation with Angelina Jolie.
- He's a huge Star Wars fan, and got a cameo in The Force Awakens when Spectre was filming on a neighbor set at Pinewood Studios in England.
- Southern-Fried Genius: Joe Bang from Logan Lucky and Benoit Blanc from Knives Out may sound silly with their quirks and Southern accents, but they're experts in their field (blowing up vaults and solving murder mysteries, respectively).
- Star-Making Role: While he had some recognition in the UK beforehand, he was catapulted to worldwide household name status with Casino Royale.
- Those Two Actors:
- He's starred with Ben Whishaw in three Bond films (Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die), and Layer Cake, The Trench and Enduring Love.
- Starred with Eva Green in Casino Royale and The Golden Compass.
- With Ana de Armas in Knives Out and No Time to Die. After working with her in the former, he lobbied to cast her in the latter.
- Throw It In!: The famous scene in Casino Royale of him rising out of the water just happened when he walked into a sand dune and had to stand up.
- Uncredited Role:
- He was an extra in Covington Cross, playing a guard.
- He has a brief uncredited cameo in The Force Awakens as the Stormtrooper who guards Rey and ends up freeing her under Jedi Mind Trick.
- What Could Have Been:
- He replaced Robert Downey Jr. in Cowboys & Aliens.
- Additionally he suggested Eva Green for the female lead in the above film. Eva turned the role down and Olivia Wilde was cast instead.
- Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: Craig and director Marc Forster were actually forced to rewrite scenes from Quantum of Solace on their own when the writer's strike of 2007/2008 impacted its production.
