BOND BUDDIES
HCraig McGinlay admits he’d love to play the bad guy opposite his pal Henry Cavill in the next 007 movie as he relishes playing a similar role in BBC series
E PLAYS a gangland hardman in the BBC’s Northern Ireland police drama Blue lights and now Craig McGinlay has set his sights on playing a Bond baddie opposite pal Henry Cavill.
Superman actor Cavill is among the names touted to play 007 after Daniel Craig hung up in his Walther PPK.
And scot Craig, who got his big screen break thanks to The Gentlemen director Guy Ritchie, said he would happily play a classic Bond villain such as Ernst stavro Blofeld, auric Goldfinger or Julius No – reuniting him with his Jujitsu sparring partner.
Craig, 38, said: “Realistically, if someone was to ask me if I thought I would play James Bond, of course I don’t. It’s probably a distant dream. But for me, that’s the target.
“Who knows, one day they might give me a call but I’m sure they’ve got a long list of actors ahead of me.
“Would I take the bad guy role in a James Bond movie? Of course. It seems I’m playing a lot of bad guy roles.”
He’s thrilled to see his pal Henry in the frame for the iconic role and admires his commitment to training for parts.
Craig said: “Henry Cavill’s a really nice guy and is doing really well. It’s amazing to see the amount he trains for his roles.”
Craig, Ritchie and Cavill train with Roger Gracie, who is considered one of best Jujitsu martial artists of all time.
Craig, who quit playing rugby after a shoulder injury prior to taking up acting, said: “Roger trained other actors like Charlie Hunnam and Henry, and got Guy Ritchie his black belt.
“Henry and I met when he was training with Roger for Justice league back in 2017 when I started acting.
“I was training with Roger for Guy’s film King arthur: legend of the sword. We had the same gym and trainer so we would meet up and we’ve kept in touch.”
Previous Bond baddies from scotland have included alan Cumming as Boris Grishenko in 1995’s Goldeneye and Robert Carlyle as terrorist Renard in 1999’s The World Is Not Enough.
As fans of Ian Fleming’s character await news of a possible Bond reboot, Craig is revelling in a gritty role in the critically acclaimed crime series Blue lights.
He was delighted to be able to keep
We had the same gym trainer, so we would meet up and we kept in touch craig mcginlay on his actor pal henry
his accent for the role of ex-squaddie Craig McQuarrie. The second series of the BBC police drama, set in Belfast, deals with the loyalist community.
Craig said: “I play the right hand man to Lee Thompson, who’s played by Seamus O’Hara. I’m a former military man who went to Afghanistan and came back, a Scot as well as a loyalist, so I’ve managed to keep my Scottish accent.
“It’s a fantastic role, another bad guy. Hopefully the viewers can see glimpses of the fact he is a guy who has turned bad after tours of Afghanistan and is back from combat with signs of PTSD.”
Craig was cast in Outlander for series 4 where he played Andrew MacNeil, a plantation owner and prominent member of the Scottish community.
And he recalled being slightly disappointed when he learned where they would be filming the hit show.
He said: “I was told it would either be filmed in Cumbernauld or South America. I ended up in Cumbernauld.
“It was an amazing experience working with Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe. Sam works so hard. Caitriona is a tremendous actress as well, but the role I played was not a nice character. I’ll never forget my last scene, which was intense and the writers were quite upset watching it unfold.”
Recently, Craig has played a 19th-century soldier for the Indian film Shamshera and he had to learn quickly to bag that part.
He said: “During the audition, they told me I had an hour to learn the scene in Hindi and to try my best.
“With no coach, I sent the tape over and got the role. Thankfully the reviews were good. They said that finally a UK actor had got Hindi on point.”
All his success has come about after he fell into acting. He first appeared in an advert for Haig whisky, in 2014, alongside David Beckham, which was directed by Ritchie.
The Colosseum actor said: “Becks was there for three days and it was an amazing experience. He is one of the nicest guys.
“I’ve met the family, the kids and Victoria. They are so down to earth.
“I got to work with Becks twice because he was in King Arthur as well. Since then I’ve been very lucky.”