GOING OUT WITH A BANG
AS DANIEL CRAIG PREPARES TO BOW OUT AS 007 IN NO TIME TO DIE, WE UNCOVER SOME FACTS ABOUT HIS TIME IN THE ROLE
1 Daniel longest-running actor to Craig play is the James Bond, having held the role for 15 years, from 2006 film Casino Royale to this year’s No Time To Die. Next longest (secret) service record goes to Roger Moore, who held the role for 12 years (19731985), followed by Sean Connery with nine years (1962-1971).
7 Daniel Bond actor is the to first be born after the series began. The Bond franchise officially began with Dr. No in 1962, Craig was born in 1968 in Chester.
At 5ft 10ins tall, Daniel (left) is the first actor under 6ft tall to play 007. Sean Connery (right) is reportedly the tallest Bond to date, standing at 6ft 2ins.
3Getting the role of Bond was a close call for Daniel, who pipped future Superman actor Henry Cavill (below) to the role. It is said that it was Daniel’s performance as a suave, unflappable drug dealer in the thriller Layer Cake that gave him the edge in Casino Royale director Martin Campbell’s eyes. That film also featured Ben Whishaw, who would go on to play Q. 4
Not a part to dye for – the actor refused to colour his hair dark brown to play 007, becoming the first blond Bond.
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Two of Craig’s Bond films have won Oscars for Best Original Song. Adele’s Skyfall won in 2013, while Sam Smith took home the gong in 2016 for Writing’s on the Wall – the theme tune to Spectre. Skyfall was also joint winner in the sound editing
category. 6
No one looks more dapper in a suit than Bond and Daniel gets through a lot of them during filming. Speaking on No Time To Die: The Official James Bond Podcast, he revealed: “If I have a suit that’s involved in an action sequence, I need 20 or 25 of them.”
Playing the action man is not without its risks. Daniel reportedly smashed two teeth in a fight scene in Casino Royale, lost the tip of a finger filming Quantum of Solace, sprained a knee in Spectre and suffered an ankle injury filming No Time To Die.
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His movies are the most lucrative in the franchise’s history. Skyfall (2012) alone generated more than $1.1bn worldwide.
10James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli (pictured below) said Daniel “brought humanity” to the role of 007. She told the Sunday Times: “It’s a threedimensional character as opposed to, as Bond is described in books, a silhouette”.