page_title: Daniel Craig
section_title: 2005–present: James Bond and leading man status
hierarchical_section_title: Daniel Craig / Career / 2005–present: James Bond and leading man status
caption_attribution_description: English: Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace New York City Premiere, 11-11-08)
context_page_description: Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. After training at the National Youth Theatre and graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1991, Craig began his career on stage. He made his film debut in the drama The Power of One and attracted attention with appearances in the historical television war drama Sharpe's Eagle, the family film A Kid in King Arthur's Court, the television serial drama Our Friends in the North, the biographical film Elizabeth, the television film Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon, the indie war film The Trench, the drama film Some Voices, the action film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, the crime thriller film Road to Perdition, the crime thriller film Layer Cake, and the historical drama film Munich.
  Craig achieved international fame when he began starring as James Bond in the eponymous film series, taking over from Pierce Brosnan, beginning with Casino Royale. It earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He followed this with the sequels Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, which ranks as the series' highest-grossing film, Spectre, and No Time to Die.
context_section_description: In 2005, Craig was contacted by Eon Productions to portray James Bond. Initially, he was unsure about the role when first offered it and was resistant to the producers' overtures. "There was a period of trying to woo him" longtime Bond co-producer Barbara Broccoli later commented in 2012. During this period, he sought advice from colleagues and friends, to whom "most of us said to him...'there is life after Bond'.". He stated he "was aware of the challenges" of the Bond franchise, which he considered "a big machine that makes a lot of money". He aimed at bringing more "emotional depth" to the character. Born in 1968, Craig is the first actor to portray James Bond to have been born after the Bond series started and after the death of Ian Fleming, the novels' writer. The casting choice caused significant controversy. Throughout the entire production period, internet campaigns expressed their dissatisfaction and threatened to boycott the film in protest. The 5-foot-10-inch (178 cm) blond Craig was not considered by some protesters to fit the tall, dark-haired Bond portrayed by the previous Bond actors, to which viewers had apparently become accustomed. Although the choice of Craig was controversial, numerous actors publicly voiced their support. Most notably four of the five actors who had previously portrayed Bond – Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Timothy Dalton – called his casting a good decision. The other actor to have previously played Bond, George Lazenby, has since voiced his approval of Craig also. Clive Owen, who had been linked to the role, also spoke in defence of Craig.
  The first film, Casino Royale, premiered on 14 November 2006, and grossed a total of US$594,239,066 worldwide, which made it the highest-grossing Bond film until the release of Skyfall. After the film was released, Craig's performance garnered critical acclaim. As production of Casino Royale reached its conclusion, producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced that pre-production work had already begun on the 22nd Bond film. After several months of speculation as to the release date, Wilson and Broccoli officially announced on 20 July 2006 that the follow-up film, Quantum of Solace, was to be released on 7 November 2008, and that Craig would play Bond with an option for a third film. On 25 October 2007, MGM CEO Harry Sloan revealed at the Forbes Meet II Conference that Craig had signed on to make four more Bond films, through to No Time to Die. Craig lent his voice and likeness as James Bond for both the Wii game GoldenEye 007, an enhanced remake of the 1997 game for the Nintendo 64, and James Bond 007: Blood Stone, an original game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, and Microsoft Windows. In addition to Casino Royale, Craig also appeared in two more films in 2006: the drama Infamous as mass murderer Perry Edward Smith and as the voice of the lead character in the English-language version of the French animated film Renaissance. In 2006, Craig was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  Craig starred opposite Nicole Kidman in the science fiction horror film The Invasion in 2007, the fourth film adaptation of the novel The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. The film was met with a negative reception from critics, with Roger Ebert believing it to be the worst adaptation of Finney's novel. He portrayed Lord Asriel in The Golden Compass, the 2007 film adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel. Eva Green, who played Bond girl Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, also starred in the film, although she did not appear in any scenes with Craig. In a stage version of the book, Asriel had previously been played by Timothy Dalton, one of Craig's predecessors in the role of James Bond. In March 2007, Craig made a cameo appearance as himself in a sketch with Catherine Tate who appeared in the guise of her character Elaine Figgis from The Catherine Tate Show. The sketch was made for the BBC Red Nose Day 2007 fundraising programme. In 2008, Craig, along with Quantum of Solace, starred in the drama Flashbacks of a Fool 
caption: Craig at the Quantum of Solace film premiere in New York in November 2008
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