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Daniel Craig
Craig at the Quantum of Solace American premiere in New York.
Born	Daniel Wroughton Craig 2 March 1968 (1968-03-02) (age 42) Wirral, Merseyside, England
Occupation	Actor,film producer
Years active	1992–present
Spouse(s)	Fiona Loudon (1992–94) (divorced)

Daniel Wroughton Craig¹ (born 2 March 1968) is an English actor and film producer. His early film roles included Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert. His breakthrough performances were in the films Layer Cake, Road to Perdition, Defiance, The Golden Compass and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

Craig became a household name when he was cast as the sixth actor to portray the fictional secret agent James Bond in the long-running Eon Productions film series. He made his début as the character in the 2006 film, Casino Royale, to critical acclaim, and was nominated for a BAFTA award.²

Contents 1 Early life 2 Breakthrough 2.1 James Bond (2005–present) 3 Other projects 4 Personal life 5 Filmography 6 References 7 External links

Early life

Craig was born on Liverpool Road, Chester, Cheshire, England, the son of Olivia (née Williams), an art teacher, and Timothy John Wroughton Craig, who was the landlord of the pubs "Ring o' Bells" (in Frodsham) and "The Boot Inn"³ and served as a midshipman in the Merchant Navy. Craig was brought up in Liverpool and on the Wirral, Merseyside.⁴ He began acting in school plays at age six. Craig went to a primary school in Frodsham and Hoylake called Holy Trinity Primary School^{citation needed}. Craig moved to London when he was sixteen to join the National Youth Theatre after a brief stay at Calday.³ He and his older sister, Lea, attended Hilbre High School and Calday Grange Grammar School in West Kirby. He played for Hoylake Rugby Club.⁵ He attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama at the Barbican and graduated in 1991 after three years of study under Colin McCormack.

Breakthrough

An early starring role was as 'Geordie' in the BBC's 1996 drama Our Friends in the North, with early film roles being as Angelina Jolie's rival and love interest in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), before appearing in Sam Mendes's movie Road to Perdition (2002), with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. 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) with Eric Bana, Infamous (2006), and The Golden Compass (2007). He recently starred in Defiance.

James Bond (2005–present)

On 23 October 2005, Craig signed a five-film contract with EON Productions to portray James Bond. 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.⁶ Being born in 1968, Craig is the first actor to portray James Bond to be born after the Bond series already started, and Ian Fleming, the novels' writer, had died. He is also the second actor to portray Bond true to the original character in Fleming's novels, i.e. a dark, moody, oftimes cruel individual, after Timothy Dalton.

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 — Pierce Brosnan,⁷ Timothy Dalton, Sean Connery, and Roger Moore — called his casting a good decision. Clive Owen, who had been linked to the role, also spoke in defence of Craig.⁸

The first film, Casino Royale, premièred on 14 November 2006, and grossed a total of US$594,239,066 Worldwide, which makes the film the highest grossing Bond film.⁹

After the film was released, Craig's performance was highly acclaimed. Critic Paul Arendt of BBC Films,¹⁰ Producer Barbara Broccoli also denied other rumours in an interview with Variety.¹¹

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,¹² was to be released on 7 November 2008 and that Craig plays Bond with an option for a third film.¹³ On 25 October 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 25.¹⁴

In 2006, Craig was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.¹⁵

On 12 June 2008, Craig sliced the top of one of his fingers off while filming Quantum of Solace. The accident was the latest in a string of incidents surrounding the shoot, including a fire at one of the sets in Pinewood Studios, UK; a car crash that left the stunt driver in a serious condition; and an Aston Martin skidding off the roads in heavy rains while being transported to the set in northern Italy and plunging into Lake Garda.

Craig describes his portrayal of Bond as an antihero: “The question I keep asking myself while playing the role is, ‘Am I the good guy or just a bad guy who works for the good side?’ Bond’s role, after all, is that of an assassin when you come down to it. I have never played a role in which someone’s dark side shouldn’t be explored. I don’t think it should be confusing by the end of the movie, but during the movie you should be questioning who he is.”¹⁶ Craig also states that his favourite previous Bond actor was Sean Connery, but says, "I'd never copy somebody else. I would never do an impression of anybody else or try and improve on what they did. That would be a pointless exercise for me".¹⁷

Other projects

In 1999 Craig starred as Richard in a TV drama called Shockers: The Visitor. In 2007, Craig moved on to portraying the character of Lord Asriel in The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel.¹⁸ 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 early 2001, 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."¹⁹ 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.²⁰

In 2008's Defiance, he played Tuvia Bielski, a Jewish resistance fighter in the woods of Belarus during World War II who saved 1,200 people.

The shot in Casino Royale of Craig sporting swimming trunks, has often topped many sexiest male celebrity polls,²¹ and in 2009 Del Monte Foods launched an ice pop molded to resemble Craig emerging from the sea.²²

Craig co-starred with Hugh Jackman, in a limited engagement of the play A Steady Rain, on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre, which opened in previews on September 10, 2009 and closed on December 6, 2009.²³

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 1994.²⁴ After his divorce he was in a seven-year relationship with German actress Heike Makatsch and is currently in a relationship with film producer Satsuki Mitchell.

Craig had to quit smoking and hire a personal trainer to prepare for the role of James Bond.²⁵ He is an avid video game player and was excited to have a Quantum of Solace video game released.

In October 2008, Craig paid £4 million for an apartment close to Regent's Park, London.²⁶

Craig supported Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.²⁷

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1992	The Power of One	Sgt. Botha, a.k.a. The Judge
1993	Zorro	Lt Hidalgo	Two episodes of a US TV series filmed in Madrid.
1993	Sharpe's Eagle	Lt. Berry	Television Drama
1995	A Kid in King Arthur's Court	Master Kane
1996	Kiss And Tell	Matt Kearney	TV Film
1996	The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders	James "Jemmy" Seagrave	Television Drama
	Our Friends in the North	George "Geordie" Peacock	Television Drama: 8 Episodes
1997	Obsession – Besessene Seelen	John McHale
	The Ice House	D.S. Andy McLoughlin	TV Mystery/Drama from the novel by Minette Walters
1998	Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon	George Dyer	Edinburgh International Film Festival Award for Best British Performance
	Love and Rage	James Lynchehaun
	Elizabeth	John Ballard
1999	The Trench	Sgt. Telford Winter	Nominated — British Independent Film Award for Best Actor
	The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Daredevils of the Desert	Schiller
2000	Some Voices	Ray	British Independent Film Award for Best Actor
	Hotel Splendide	Ronald Blanche
	I Dreamed of Africa	Declan Fielding
2001	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider	Alex West
	Sword of Honour	Guy Crouchback
2002	Copenhagen	Werner Heisenberg	Television Drama (Stage Adaptation)
	Ten Minutes Older: The Cello	Cecil
	Road to Perdition	Connor Rooney
2003	Sylvia	Ted Hughes
	The Mother	Darren	Nominated — British Independent Film Award for Best Actor Nominated - European Film Awards Audience Award for Best Actor Nominated - London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
2004	Layer Cake	XXXX	Nominated - Empire Award for Best Actor Nominated - European Film Awards Audience Award for Best Actor also for Enduring Love
	Enduring Love	Joe	Nominated - European Film Awards Audience Award for Best Actor also for Layer Cake
2005	Munich	Steve
	Archangel	Christopher Kelso	Television Drama
	Fateless	American Soldier
	The Jacket	Rudy Mackenzie
2006	Casino Royale	James Bond	Empire Award for Best Actor Evening Standard British Film Awards Award for Best Actor Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor
	Renaissance	Barthélémy Karas	Voice role
	Infamous	Perry Smith	Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
2007	The Golden Compass	Lord Asriel
	The Invasion	Ben Driscoll
2008	Flashbacks of a Fool	Joe Scot	Also Executive Producer
	Quantum of Solace	James Bond	Nominated - Empire Award for Best Actor
	Defiance	Tuvia Bielski
2010	I, Lucifer	Lucifer	on hold
2011	The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn	Red Rackham	post-production28
	Cowboys & Aliens	Zeke Jackson	pre-production
	Bond 23	James Bond	pre-production
	Dream House		in production

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Daniel Craig

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Daniel Craig

• Daniel Craig at the Internet Movie Database
• Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Daniel Craig from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Daniel Craig biography and credits at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• A very detailed biography from Tiscali Film & TV
• Personal interview on "being Bond", Parade Magazine Oct 26, 2008

v • d • e Actors who have played James Bond EON Productions Sean Connery · George Lazenby · Roger Moore · Timothy Dalton · Pierce Brosnan · Daniel Craig Other productions Barry Nelson · Bob Holness · David Niven · Sean Connery · Michael Jayston · Maxwell Caulfield · Adam Blackwood · Tim Bentinck · Jason Carter · Toby Stephens Actresses who have portrayed Bond girls · Actors considered for the James Bond character

Persondata
NAME	Daniel Craig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Daniel Wroughton Craig
SHORT DESCRIPTION	English actor
DATE OF BIRTH	2 March 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chester, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH