Daniel Craig Wasn't Sexy Enough For One James Bond Director
The filmmaker behind Daniel Craig's first James Bond movie is admitting he initially had concerns about casting the actor because of his rugged look.
"Casino Royale" director Martin Campbell recently recalled for Express UK that his doubts about Craig stemmed from the fact that he didn't fit the mold of previous Bond stars. "My only reticence with Daniel ... he was really a superb actor, there's no doubt about that," Campbell told the publication. "It was the fact that with people like Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan was that they were all traditional-looking Bonds. All handsome guys, all sexy, all very attractive to women and so forth."
Craig, of course, is also blond, as opposed to the black or dark brown hair sported by all of his predecessors, which also included George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton, and after he was cast in "Casino Royale" in 2006, the actor refused to dye his hair for the role. "I was asked to dye my hair brown to play this role but it was out of the question," Craig told the UK's Evening Standard in 2012. "I suggested instead that I could cut my hair really short to create a more brutal appearance." Apparently, "brutal appearance" was part of the reason for Campbell's hesitation to cast Craig. "Daniel was obviously tougher and rugged, but he wasn't a traditional handsome guy," the director told Express UK. "So I just thought about that for a minute and apart from that, absolutely it was always him."
Craig was eventually voted 'The Sexiest Man on the Planet'
Daniel Craig, of course, was the fateful choice to embody Ian Fleming's famed spy character in "Casino Royale" in 2006, and he went on to play 007 five times total over a span of 15 years, which ended in 2021 with "No Time to Die." Despite Martin Campbell's initial concerns about Craig's sex appeal, the media began to see the actor in a different light. Among the facts that make Craig even more charming than James Bond himself, the actor was voted "The Sexiest Man on the Planet" in a 2006 poll by Durex. Among the actors Craig topped in the voting were George Clooney, Johnny Depp, and, yes, even his 007 predecessor, Pierce Brosnan, who placed 10th.
Ironically, Campbell told Express UK, potential Bond actors are essentially voted on before they are elected, effectively, to take on the role of 007. Among the group of eight from which Craig was selected was a pre-"Man of Steel" star Henry Cavill. "It's very democratic. You sit around a table ... It was myself and the producers, casting director, etc.," Campbell told Express UK. "And you go through the eight people and you put your hand up as you talk through each person and ultimately everybody has to be unanimous in their decision, if you see what I mean."
Ultimately, Craig's successor will have to win the role via the same process. Among the names mentioned most often to play the new 007 is "Kick-Ass" and "Bullet Train" star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who reportedly had a Bond meeting that went well in January 2023.