Old news also, but I never read this interview
From Marie Claire
This interview has been edited for MarieClaire.co.uk; to read the full interview, pick up the December 2006 issue of Marie Claire.
Daniel Craig THE SIXTH JAMES Bond greets me with a warm handshake and advises against sitting on the sofa, because it's too squashy. 'You'll sink right down,' he warns. '
Much as I'd like to dominate you, you'll probably be more comfortable on a chair.' He's joking – a nod, perhaps, to past interviews that pegged him as aggressive and overbearing. But as we chat, my preconceptions fade. Craig may be private about his personal life, but he seems likeable and genuine.
'We finished filming [Casino Royale] on Friday,' he says. 'So, if I seem a little exhausted, that's why. I'm not allowing myself to go crazy yet, though, or we wouldn't even be having this interview. I'd be in the bar.' If Craig seems threatening, it's because, in preparation for 007, he beefed himself to the degree that his forearms are the width of most people's thighs. The point, he explains, was to make his portrayal of the new, darker, edgier Bond more realistic. 'I wanted to look like I could hurt someone,' he confides. The results are dramatic. In Casino Royale, the classic James Bond cliché of a beautiful woman emerging from the sea is reversed; this time, Craig is the Venus. His rippling torso might provoke gasps from the audience – and not just because of his tight swimwear. 'The trunks were my choice,' he says. 'We discussed ten pairs. Bond shouldn't wear Bermuda shorts. It's just not right. Anyway, the ones I chose aren't that skimpy. I mean they're not Speedos. That would have been wrong.'
Apart from trunk selection, Craig insists he had plenty of input into Casino Royale. The film has almost no gadgets, a fully developed love story and grittier feel than 007's previous outings. 'There's quite a lot of blood,' he says. 'You actually see the consequence of violence.' Ironically, Craig has been criticised for not being macho enough for 007. He laughs in disbelief. 'There was even a piece in the paper that said, “Bond uses wet wipes!” What should I use? Sandpaper? Yes, I use grooming products. They are given to me. Occasionally, I have a bit of a regime, then get bored with all that three-step T-zone bollocks.'
Ever since it was announced that he had won the role, Craig has endured insults, being called 'Mr Potato Head' and 'putridly ugly'. He may not have Pierce Brosnan's model looks but he is charismatic and craggy. His blue eyes are mesmerising, his features have a Mount Rushmore solidity and, until the Bond furore, he was considered a bit of a looker, especially after his affair with Kate Moss. It must have been a shock to go from sex god to 'Shrek-alike' overnight. Thankfully, Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson have paid little heed to the negative press, reportedly signing him up for the next Bond movie. Nonetheless, did some of the criticism sting? He laughs. 'What, like, “He's too ugly?” What can I do? My mother loves me.'
After a stint at London's National Youth Theatre, Craig attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama alongside Rhys Ifans, Ewan McGregor and Joseph Fiennes. He made ends meet working as a waiter and reportedly slept on the odd park bench. At 24, he married actress Fiona Loudon and they have a 14-year-old daughter, Ella. The marriage lasted four years. Afterwards, he had a seven-year relationship with actress Heike Makatsch. For the past two years, he's been living in London with film producer Satsuki Mitchell, 30.
Craig has never shied away from playing unsympathetic characters, but he admits to thinking deeply before taking on Bond. In the novel Casino Royale, 007 is almost comically misogynistic. 'My first thought was, “Fucking hell, how do we do this?” he says. 'There's always been that unpleasant side to Bond – Sean Connery used to smack women around the face as 007! I was interested in why Bond is like that. You can't forgive him, but at least you go, “OK, I see why he behaves that way.” If he seems morally corrupt, it's because he's getting paid to kill people.' Those who think 007 deserves a cruel punishment meted out on his genitals will be gratified to find out that this happens in Casino Royale. 'Oh, yes,' Craig winces. 'You see the henchman take a chair and knife the bottom out of it and then I'm sat in it naked. They hit Bond [under the chair] with a spliced ship's rope. The bottom of the chair was fibreglass and it broke once. Fucking hell, I moved quickly.'
We discuss the leading ladies Craig has worked with, ranging from Gwyneth Paltrow – 'a lovely lady' – to Angelina Jolie, who described him as 'one of the best kissers'. 'I'm honoured,' he smirks. 'She's not bad herself. I really respect her. She's doing something incredibly positive with her fame.' He is less expansive when asked about working with Sienna Miller. 'Oh, fuck off,' he chuckles. Well? There's a pause. 'It was absolutely fine,' he says. Craig first met Miller on Layer Cake, in which they shared a steamy hotel-room scene; by all accounts, they took their work home. Two years later, at the height of revelations about Jude Law's affair with his nanny, reports emerged that Law was 'incandescent with rage', after Miller allegedly cheated on him with Craig, an old friend.
Craig's first experience of media attention came in October 2004, when his relationship with Kate Moss became public. He admitted at the time that, 'It's not easy for two successful people to be together.' I ask him if the Bond furore compares to the pressures of being in a relationship with the world's most famous model. 'Well, yeah,' he says uncomfortably. 'I understand the interest, but I won't talk publicly about any relationship, because that's behaving like a prick. At that press conference, they asked me questions that I wouldn't answer, so they called me “James Bland”. Well, fuck you, I don't care. But yes, it gave me a taste of what this would be like – being followed and so on.' He takes a deep breath. 'Sorry to be aggressive. I didn't mean to be,' he says, softening. I say I don't find him aggressive, just honest, and we discuss whether being forthright can sometimes give the wrong impression. 'The thing I'm most glad about is that people don't really know what I am,' he says. 'But of course you get labelled.' So what of his 'difficult and aggressive' label? 'I do get that,' he sighs, breaking into a grin. 'But I'm not really. I'm a big softie.'