Daniel Craig Bio

Daniel Craig Biography

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This Daniel Craig biography contains information believed to be accurate as extracted from sources around the internet including Wikipedia. If you believe there are errors or omissions in this Daniel Craig bio, please let us know so that we can correct any inaccuracies.

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Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English actor. Brought up on the Wirral, he joined the National Youth Theatre at the age of sixteen and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1991. His early film roles included The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle and "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert." He went on to star in his breakthrough performance Layer Cake and also Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opposite Angelina Jolie.

Craig became the sixth actor to portray the fictional secret agent James Bond in the long-running Eon Productions film series. He made his debut as the character in the 2006 film, Casino Royale to critical acclaim and was nominated for a BAFTA award. Grossing US$593 million worldwide, it became the highest grossing James Bond film. He is currently filming the 22nd James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, due to be released on November 7, 2008.

Daniel Craig: Biography

Daniel Craig - Early life

Daniel was born in Chester, England, the son of Olivia (née Williams), an art teacher, and Timothy John Wroughton Craig, who served as a midshipman in the Merchant Navy and worked in various occupations when he came ashore. Craig was brought up in Cheshire where his father was landlord of the pubs "Ring 'O Bells" and "The Boot". He attended Hilbre High School and Calday Grange Grammar School. He played for Hoylake Rugby Club. Craig moved to London when he was sixteen to join the National Youth Theatre after a brief stay at Calday.

Daniel Craig - Breakthrough: 1990s

Daniel studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1991, and appeared in several minor roles including Sharpe's Eagle and an episode of Drop The Dead Donkey in 1993. His first leading role on screen was as a co-star in the 1996 BBC Television serial Our Friends in the North. He continued his work with the BBC by starring in the 1997 Francis Bacon biopic Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon, portraying Bacon's jilted lover George Dyer. 1997 also saw the broadcast of a TV mystery drama, from the Minette Walters novel The Ice House, in which Craig played D.S. Andy McLoughlin.

Following an introduction to international audiences as Angelina Jolie's rival and love interest in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), he continued his career in the United States in Sam Mendes's movie Road to Perdition (2002), with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. Craig played Connor Rooney, the son of an Irish mob boss (played by Newman) and a conniving murderer who hides behind his mobster father's shadow. Other leading film roles include Sword of Honour (2001), The Mother (2003) with Anne Reid, Sylvia (2003) with Gwyneth Paltrow, Layer Cake (2004) with Sienna Miller, Enduring Love (2004) with Rhys Ifans, Steven Spielberg's Munich (2005), and Infamous (2006).

Daniel Craig - James Bond (2005-present)

Daniel Craig in a gondola in Venice, Italy during the filming of Casino Royale

In February 2005, Craig had been named in the media as a possible candidate to portray James Bond. On April 6, 2005, Craig was reported to have signed with EON Productions as part of a three-film contract worth £15 million (US$29,696,972). However, the news was later debunked by the BBC who contacted EON for an official report.

On 23 October 2005, Craig signed a three-film contract. He stated that he "was aware of the challenges" of the James Bond franchise which he considers "a big machine" that "makes a lot of money". He aimed at bringing more "emotional depth" to the character.

Some controversy followed with a small but vocal group of fans threatening a boycott of the film, and a website was created for the protest, which ultimately failed. He reached high attention when screen shots of him were released in a tight swim suit and bulging chest which made him on People Hottest Men's list. The reason was Craig being blond unlike all preceding James Bond actors. Media coverage of the controversy resulted in numerous actors publicly voicing their support of Craig. Most notably, four of the five previous actors who portrayed Bond - Pierce Brosnan Timothy Dalton, Sean Connery, Roger Moore - called his casting a good decision. Clive Owen, who had been linked to the role, also spoke in defence of Craig. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Pierce Brosnan was asked, "What do you think of the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, and will you be watching Casino Royale?" He replied, "I'm looking forward to it like we're all looking forward to it. Daniel Craig is a great actor, and he's going to do a fantastic job".

The first film Casino Royale was released on 14 November 2006, and grossed a total of US$594 million, which makes the film the highest grossing Bond film.

After the film was released, Craig's performance was highly acclaimed. Critic Paul Arendt of BBC Films, Kim Newman of Empire and Todd Carty of Variety all described Craig as the first actor to truly embody the original James Bond from Ian Fleming's novels: "ironic, brutal, and cold". He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor on January 2006, and won the Best Actor award at the Evening Standard British Film Awards on 2 February 2007, both firsts for an actor in the role of James Bond.

A widely circulated report on several news channels and newspapers claimed that Craig had lost two teeth filming a fight scene; Craig later said it was just a crown that had come loose. Producer Barbara Broccoli also denied other rumours in an interview with Variety.

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, will be released on 7 November 2008 and that Craig has been signed to play Bond, with an option for a third film. On October 25, 2007, MGM CEO Harry Sloan revealed at the Forbes Meet II Conference that Craig had signed on for four more Bond films, through to Bond 25.

In 2006, Casino Royale became #5 best-selling Bond film of all time; however, with recent DVD and box office sales, it rose to the #2 best-selling Bond film of all time as of 2007. The same year, Craig was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Daniel Craig - Other Projects

In 2007, Craig moved on to portraying the character of Lord Asriel in the The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel Northern Lights. Eva Green, who played Bond girl Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, also starred in the film, although 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 early 2007, Craig expressed an interest in being a part of the Star Trek franchise, professing his love of the series to the World Entertainment News Network and a desire to have a "stint in the TV show or a film. It's been a secret ambition of mine for years." On 16 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 program.

According to Digital Spy, Craig made a narrow escape after a gang fight on the set on the 22nd Bond adventure. EON Productions then apparently hired armed guards to stand outside the set to avoid further disruption. A representative for EON Productions said " Armed guards have now been called in to guard the film's cast and crew in fear of further attacks." This story was also reported in the News Of The World although they said that someone was murdered which EON Productions denied.

Daniel Craig - Personal life

In 1992, Craig married Scottish actress Fiona Loudon, with whom he has a daughter, Ella. However, the marriage ended in a divorce in 1994. After his divorce he was in a seven-year relationship with German actress Heike Makatsch. In the last few years, Craig has been in a long term relationship with Japanese American film producer Satsuki Mitchell. He was rumoured to be having a relationship with Sienna Miller.

Daniel is also a fan of the The Smiths, a British Indie Rock band. He once referred to himself as the "macho Morrissey". He is a fan of Liverpool Football Club.

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