Daniel Craig
Biography
Life Story
One of the British theatre's most famous faces, Daniel Craig, who waited tables as a struggling teenage actor with the National Youth Theatre, has gone on to star as James Bond in Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2020).
He was born Daniel Wroughton Craig on March 2, 1968, at 41 Liverpool Road, Chester, Cheshire, England. His father, Timothy John Wroughton Craig, was a merchant seaman turned steel erector, and then became landlord of the "Ring O'Bells" pub in Frodsham, Cheshire. His mother, Carol Olivia (Williams), was an art teacher. Craig is of English, as well as Welsh, Scottish, and Irish, ancestry. His parents split up in 1972, and young Daniel was raised with his older sister, Lea, in Liverpool, then in Hoylake, Wirral, in the home of his mother. His interest in acting was encouraged by visits to the Liverpool Everyman Theatre arranged by his mother. From the age of 6, Craig started acting in school plays, making his debut in the Frodsham Primary School production of "Oliver!", and his mother was the driving force behind his artistic aspirations. The first Bond movie he ever saw at the cinema was Roger Moore's Live and Let Die (1973); young Daniel Craig saw it with his father, so it took a special place in his heart. He was also a good athlete and was a rugby player at Hoylake Rugby Club.
At age 14, Craig played roles in "Oliver", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Cinderella" at Hilbre High School in West Kirby, Wirral. He left Hilbre High School at age 16 to audition at the National Youth Theatre's (NYT) troupe on their tour in Manchester in 1984. He was accepted and moved down to London. There, his mother and father watched his stage debut as Agamemnon in Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida". As a struggling actor with the NYT, he was toiling in restaurant kitchens and as a waiter. Craig performed with NYT on tours to Valencia, Spain, and to Moscow, Russia, under the leadership of director Edward Wilson. He failed at repeated auditions at the Guildhall, but eventually his persistence paid off, and in 1988, he entered the Guildhall School of Music and Drama at the Barbican. There, he studied alongside Ewan McGregor and Alistair McGowan, then later Damian Lewis and Joseph Fiennes, among others. He graduated in 1991, after a three-year course under the tutelage of Colin McCormack, the actor from the Royal Shakespeare Company. From 1992-1994, he was married to Scottish actress Fiona Loudon, their daughter, named Ella Craig (born 1992).
Family
Rachel Weisz (22 June 2011 - present) ( 1 child)
Trivia
Resided in London with German actress Heike Makatsch (2001-2004).
Has a daughter, Ella Craig (born 1992), who resides with his ex-wife Fiona Loudon in London.
Named as one of European films 'Shooting Stars' by European Film Promotion (2000).
He was nominated for a 2002 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in "A Number'. in which he played 3 roles, at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs.
One of the many actors considered to take over James Bond from Pierce Brosnan. He officially accepted the role in October 2005.
Was the last actor considered for the role of Rorschach in the movie adaptation of Alan Moore's comic-book miniseries, Watchmen (2009).
Parents are Timothy John and Carol Olivia Craig. Has an older sister: Lea Craig.
Good friends with supermodel Kate Moss, Gaspard Ulliel and Nicole Kidman.
Visited the Sarajevo Film Festival. [2005]
Esquire magazine's "Best dressed male". [2006]
Was the only cast member of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) to be a huge fan of the Tomb Raider video games.
His then girlfriend Satsuki Mitchell accompanied him to the world premiere of Casino Royale (2006) in London. It was their first public appearance together.
Is a huge fan of Liverpool Football Club.
Voted #7 in Elle (France) magazine's "15 Sexiest Men" poll. [June 2007]
One of 115 people invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 2007.
Signed on to play James Bond in four more films after Casino Royale (2006). [October 2007]
Attended and graduated from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England (1991).
Quit smoking before making Casino Royale (2006).
Ranked #29 in the 2008 Telegraph's list "the 100 most powerful people in British culture".
Is a huge fan of Robert Altman films.
He was a huge fan of the fantasy trilogy, "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman, before he was cast in the the trilogy's first chapter The Golden Compass (2007).
Became good friends with Nicole Kidman, after they worked together on The Invasion (2007) and The Golden Compass (2007).
While incognito at a cinema in the United States, he was once asked if anyone had ever told him that he looked like Daniel Craig. He answered "no" and walked away.
He was considered for the role of Doctor in Blindness (2008) but Mark Ruffalo was cast instead.
Personal Quotes
[TimeOut London interview, 7 October 2015, answering "Do you ever look back and think: How the hell did I end up playing James Bond?"] I know, it?s ludicrous, it?s ridiculous. When I first got approached, I just thought: You?ve made a mistake. I don?t know, it?s still crazy.
I go through life thinking it's all going to end tomorrow.
I don't believe in self-promotion, really I can't be arsed.
[TimeOut London interview, 7 October 2015, answering "Can you imagine doing another Bond movie?"] Now? I?d rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That?s fine. I?m over it at the moment. We?re done. All I want to do is move on.
People always say, "That stuff you did in Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998) must have been difficult . . . but I say, "No, it wasn't really; that was some of the easier stuff to do", because it was always clear and made a lot of sense. It's when things are unclear and when you don't know what you're doing--that's when things are difficult.
As far as I'm concerned, I want to be nowhere else. It's difficult in film because everybody wants to make a safe bet with roles. But if you are going to do stuff then you should be getting strong reactions. I don't want audiences to be going, 'Yeah, that's all right.'
[TimeOut London interview, 7 October 2015, answering "Do you want to move on from Bond for good?"] I haven?t given it any thought. For at least a year or two, I just don?t want to think about it. I don?t know what the next step is. I?ve no idea. Not because I?m trying to be cagey. Who the fuck knows? At the moment, we?ve done it. I?m not in discussion with anybody about anything. If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money.
It's something else. I'm speechless. I've just got to step up to the plate and deal with it. I had a confidence about it but then that's because of the people around me who made me feel good about it. I knew positively on Monday. I was in Baltimore when I took the call. My first reaction was I needed a drink.
I hate handguns. Handguns are used to shoot people and as long as they are around, people will shoot each other. That's a simple fact. I've seen a bullet wound and it was a mess. It was on a shoot and it scared me. Bullets have a nasty habit of finding their target and that's what's scary about them.
[TimeOut London interview, 7 October 2015, answering "Playing James Bond is a lot about how you look ? the clothes, the walk, the fitness. Do you ever get fed up with all that?"] It?s a drag. The best acting is when you?re not concerned about the surface. And Bond is the opposite of that. You have to be bothered about how you?re looking. It?s a struggle. I know that how Bond wears a suit and walks into a room is important. But as an actor I don?t want to give a fuck about what I look like! So I have to play with both things. In a way that works, as that?s Bond: he looks good and he doesn?t give a fuck what you think he looks like!
