The Search For Bond The final part of an exclusive 3-part article

With no firm news about casting the media frenzy continued unabated. Jason Statham, whose latest action vehicle Transporter 2 had just opened in America, announced that he wanted to be the next 007. “I’m a massive fan of James Bond, and I’ve seen every one of the movies,” he told the New York Daily Post. “If I was to do that most prestigious role, then I think I’d add a new, modern feel to it, definitely.”

Whether or not Statham’s bid was taken seriously, English actor Rupert Friend, who had only recently made his film debut alongside Johnny Depp in The Libertine (2004) and was appearing in a new film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley, apparently gave an impressive reading for the Bond role and at one point was a serious candidate in the selection process.

Just as the press was digesting that bit of news an interview Daniel Craig gave GQ magazine threw more light upon the possibility of his casting, particularly in the way that he was less guarded in his views on Bond. “I’d love to play him,” he said. “But I’m not sure it’s possible.” What he saw as the problem was that much had changed since Brosnan revitalised the franchise in the mid-90s, that the world was a much more cynical place. “Spies are fucking nasty cunts, and I feel that that’s the way they have to go. And I don’t know how you would do that. I don’t know how you make it so you fear for that man’s life.” Craig also confessed that he’d day-dreamed about being Bond. “Certainly I played Bond in the school playground, every fucking kid I know played James Bond.” Finally he revealed that he would consider taking on the role, “if it was the right deal.” His actions seemed to confirm his words when a book shop owner in London called Peter Ellis revealed that Craig approached him asking about the novel CASINO ROYALE. The press quickly latched onto this as proof positive that Craig had the part in his pocket.

Much more interesting were quotes attributed to Martin Campbell, back as director, who revealed there were three candidates battling it out to win the fated role: Daniel Craig, Sam Worthington, an Australian, and Henry Cavill a virtually unknown up and coming English actor, and at 22 the youngest Bond candidate ever.

Worthington, born in Perth, Western Australia in 1976, was scarcely a household name but was seen very much as a rising star. In 2006 Worthington revealed that at first he turned down initial approaches from the Bond people before agreeing to the screen test. “They had seen my tapes and wanted to make Bond younger, like The Bourne Identity. So they kept phoning up, wanting me to audition, but I kept refusing. I had nothing to offer. It didn’t make any sense; I wouldn’t go and see Bond with me in it.”

Worthington’s reluctance, it seems, only served to make EON want him more and eventually the actor flew to London to take part in a day’s filming with Martin Campbell. To prepare he read all of Fleming’s novels and saw every 007 film he could. “I gave it the best I could. I think it’s amazingly good-going to get where I did. But maybe I wasn’t the right guy to dedicate 10 years of my life to a role like that. But I gave it a damn good crack.”

The test that these three very different actors underwent was extensive. A set was built for them, costumes were provided as indeed was a small cast, and it was lit and photographed like the real thing, even resident Bond composer David Arnold came in to provide the music. Arnold came away impressed by Worthington and Cavill, “they were terrific.” Campbell too liked what he saw, particularly Cavill. “He was really good but I think at the end he was too young."

The press had tipped Craig to win out, and according to David Arnold it was Craig’s audition that stood out from the other two; “that was the one who really made you sit up. But I think Barbara had her eye on Daniel for a long time.”

On 14 October 2005, Daniel Craig was confirmed as the new James Bond. An official EON press release read: “We are thrilled Daniel Craig will play the character of 007. Daniel is a superb actor who has all the qualities needed to bring a contemporary edge to the role.” In another statement Amy Pascal of Sony Pictures said. “We believe that in Daniel Craig we have found the ideal 21st century Bond.”

The press conference was a little bit out of the ordinary, held in London at HMS President, a Royal Navy Reserve station at St. Katherine’s Docks, on the banks of the River Thames downstream of Tower Bridge. Craig arrived in Bond-style via speedboat with wind-blown hair, and modelling a Brioni designer suit, slightly off-set by the fact that due to health and safety regulations the new 007 was forced to wear a ‘girlie’ life jacket.

Craig was the most controversial casting choice for the role of Bond since Lazenby, but his legacy is assured. It's difficult to see how any other actor at that time could have played the part so well or brought a new raw edge to what looked like a potential flat lining of the franchise after the huge misstep that was Die Another Day (2002).

After his fourth entry, Spectre, Craig caused a media storm when he said he would rather slash his wrists than play 007 again. That led to a barrage of predictable press speculation that the likes of Idris Elba, Tom Hiddleston or Michael Fassbender were being measured for their tuxedos. Hiddleston quickly emerged as the front runner and seemed the most predisposed to talk about the possibility of playing Bond. It may all have turned out to be pure speculation anyway given what Craig said in October 2016 at a New York art festival, that playing Bond was, ‘the best job in the world.’ So it doesn't look like he's about to relinquish his Walther PPK any time soon.

In researching this article it has thrown up a myriad of alternate Bond universes, where Burt Reynolds drove the underwater Lotus Esprit or indulged in banter Smokey and the Bandit-style with Sheriff J. W. Pepper, of Lewis Collins kicking Michael Gothard’s Mercedes over a cliff. But all that was never to be, and maybe it was for the best, after all, those actors the producers finally cast as Bond have been arguably the perfect choices for their particular era. Can we visualise another actor other than Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me or Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights.

Concluding this feature and the search for Bond, which has to date run over five decades, I guess an actor who exists in one of those alternate Bond worlds, Rikki Lee Travolta, sums it all up best. “The role of James Bond is both an honour and a sacrifice. It would be an honour to play – to not only join a fraternity of some of the greatest actors in modern history, but to play one of the true classic literary espionage characters of all time. At the same time, there is a certain burden that comes with the role. Anything you ever do will be secondary. Is that a bad trade off? Not at all! Anyone who tells you that they wouldn’t want to play James Bond is lying – and not well. Every actor who has played Bond has lived the dreams of every little boy. I applaud each and every one of them: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. They all have brought their own special twist to the character. Every fan has a favourite actor – and every one of them is right. Every actor in the Bond legacy deserves their fans. Every Bond actor deserves to be proud to have worn the crown. While my name will always be a footnote in the history of Bond folklore, there will always be a sense of pride that so many thousands of fans embraced the idea of Rikki Lee Travolta as James Bond with such fever and determination. Bond fans are truly some of the best in the world and to have felt that embrace on even such a dislocated level is a feeling of incredible acceptance that no words can ever do justice.”

JAMES BOND WILL RETURN...

Robert Sellers and 007 MAGAZINE wish to thank the following for contributing to The Search For Bond – Part 3: Vic Armstrong, Michael Billington (1941-2005), Marcus Gilbert, John Glen, John James, Michael Jayston (1935-2024), Sam Neill, Ian Ogilvy, Adrian Paul, David Robb, Roger Barton Smith, Oliver Tobias, Rikki Lee Travolta, and Giles Watling.

©007 MAGAZINE JUNE 2023

The Search For Bond Part 1

The Search For Bond Part 2