feel free to merge this thread as i cant find the other celeb thread
Daniel Craig: Why 007 owes everything to Merseyside
Oct 28 2008 Jade Wright, Liverpool Echo
Daniel Craig as super spy James Bond (158)
DANIEL CRAIG is deliciously dishevelled. Dressed in a grey suit, white shirt and a loosened tie that matches those twinkly blue eyes, he’s every inch James Bond.
But today, those famous ice cool eyes are ringed by dark circles. By the look of him, he’s been up late celebrating his beloved Liverpool’s victory against Chelsea and their position at the top of the league.
“Uh huh,” he grins, his whole face lighting up. “Of course.”
And he seems to think they can win the league: “There’s a pretty good chance. Get Torres back on and we’ll be unbeatable.”
Last time we met, just before the release of Casino Royale, he looked distinctly un-Bond-like in a comfy cardigan. But today he means business.
“It’s like I’ve never been away,” explains Daniel, 40. “I was involved for a little longer this time. A Bond film is a big piece of machinery. To get it going takes a lot of momentum and a lot of pushing. We kicked off straight away after Christmas and everything started falling into place.”
Picking up an hour after the end of Casino Royale, the plot follows Bond on a journey to unlock the secrets of Quantum.
And like its predecessor, it shows a more vulnerable agent, a man who bruises and bleeds.
It was always Daniel’s intention to bring more realism to the role. It has become something of a hallmark of every part he plays, and is something he says he learnt as a teenage wannabe actor growing up in Merseyside.
“It was a huge influence,” he says. “The Everyman was a big part of my life growing up. I saw some of the best actors of their generation and it was a home-from- home for me at the time. It was inspirational for me, seeing plays there, and being backstage in the theatre.”
And, it seems he could be persuaded to give up making Hollywood movies to do a show at his favourite theatre.
“I’ve never been in a play at the Everyman. Yes, potentially. But Pete Postlethwaite is doing King Lear at the moment isn’t he? Everyone is really excited about it. You can’t get tickets for love nor money.”
I’m sure if James Bond rang up he’d manage …
“Oh I don’t know,” laughs Daniel, a former Hilbre High school pupil who grew up in Hoylake. “I don’t have the contacts in Liverpool I used to have.”
When it was originally announced that Daniel would be the new James Bond, an internet hate campaign began, fuelled by personal attacks on his credentials to play 007. But Casino Royale was the most successful Bond film in history, and the critics were silenced.
Surely it must be easier this time around, now he’s already won his wings?
“I don’t feel it is easier on this one,” says Daniel. “It feels harder. We’ve got expectation on us now which can be double-edged. We’ve had to make this one better. People always talked about the fact that Casino Royale was a departure for Bond and this has to be a departure again.”
Producer Barbara Broccoli says she wants him for as many films as he’s prepared to make, but Daniel refuses to take too much ownership of the role. “I don’t know,” he says, blushing slightly. “I’m just borrowing it for now. Then somebody else will come along and hopefully do a better job and move it on. It’s not mine. It’s the Broccolis’. It’s Ian Fleming’s. I’m just the caretaker.
“I’m enjoying it. We can do anything with it. There’s the potential to bring in Moneypenny and Q. It’s hard to believe there’s a whole generation who don’t know them now. They have never seen them growing up. They didn’t grow up watching them like I did.”
But despite the change in style, Quantum Of Solace features one of the key ingredients of any Bond film – gorgeous girls. Casting them is never an easy task, it seems.
“Finding beautiful girls who can act can be tricky,” explains Daniel in a tone I can’t work out if it is serious.
But find them they did – in Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton.
“Olga just nailed the audition, she was fantastic. She is a really good actress, plus she’s beautiful, so it just fitted.
“Gemma’s character is great and she plays it to the hilt. She’s an agent who seems clueless at first but she’s smarter than we think and she teams up with Bond. He is hurt and damaged, so thank God for Gemma.”
Sadly there’s no repeat of Daniel’s own Ursula Andress moment from Casino Royale, where he emerged glistening from the sea in a pair of agreeably snug swimming trunks to match his piercing cobalt eyes.
“No, I haven’t kept those trunks,” he smiles. “Why would I? I’m not going to put them on for a bit of a giggle.”
Although rumour has it that Daniel likes to have a laugh on set.
“I don’t know where you heard that,” he grins, all innocence and beautiful blue eyes. “That’s a dreadful rumour.
“I crack jokes,” he admits. “Really rubbish ones. I think it’s important to keep things as light as possible. You have long days. Everyone is away from home for a long time. Everyone is missing their loved ones and you’ve got to keep them happy.
“It’s a Bond movie. You’ve got to make it as interesting on set as possible.”
And his comic partner is none other than Dame Judi Dench. “Judi likes a joke, although I can’t think of any off-hand. I wouldn’t want to embarrass her.”
As he talks he puts his elbow on a nearby desk and winces. He’s still wearing a large black sling, supporting his right shoulder after a recent operation.
“Damn. I was trying to hide it,” he chuckles. “I don’t know when I did it. I really don’t. I could give you four or five occasions where I hurt it, but I could have done it years ago, before Bond. But it didn’t help.”
And next to the sling sits a red poppy on his lapel. The official London premiere tomorrow night is in aid of the Royal British Legion.
And Daniel is keen to point out that it is the armed forces, and not him, who are the real action heroes.
“It doesn’t even compare,” he says. “I would never be so arrogant as to put myself in that position. It’s great that we can do it, that we can support the men and women who are out there putting their necks on the line for us.”
Quantum of Solace is filmed in more overseas locations than any Bond film that has gone before.
“I think the remit for the Bond movie is that we have to be taken somewhere. It’s important we see this character go to places that excite you and make you look at the world in a different way. For me, as a kid, the Bond movies transported you to another world.”
So will the next film see MI6 more aware of his carbon footprint? Perhaps they could film it in more UK locations, like, say Liverpool?
Daniel bursts into gales of laughter.
“Great,” he grins, “Why not? If you find a location and it works. Do it on Hilbre Island.
“If the credit crunch gets worse then who knows?”
It seems like we have fans in high places, cant we just let him loose on Hicks and Gillet?
Any other celeb fans that u can think of?
