Exclusive Daniel Craig feared he'd destroy 007 franchise Shocked by hate emails from angry Bond fans But we say he'll be the best agent since Sean
By John Dingwall

NEW Bond Daniel Craig was so unsure about whether he wanted to take one of the biggest roles in the movie industry that he waited a whole year to make up his mind.

He feared his performance as James Bond in upcoming movie Casino Royale would spell the end of the multi-million film franchise.

But after deciding to step into 007's boots, Daniel was left stunned by the army of Bond fans who filled cyberspace with petitions calling for him to be axed from the role.

Yet if his past acting parts are anything to go by, not only will Daniel pull off the character's latest makeover, he'll also make the best Bond since Sean Connery.

Daniel, 38, admitted: "It's a big leap. It's a big commitment to make to something that I haven't really got a huge amount of ambition about doing, to tell you the truth of it.

"I never really wanted to do James Bond. Don't get me wrong, I want to make big movies and I want to make as much money as I possibly can.

"But there's not a tremendous emotional challenge and that would be the important thing, because that is what I would want.

"I want that to change but I don't know how ready they'd be to change. I don't know how much of a fight that would be to try and get that done, because you'd have to flip the whole thing on its head."

With a laugh, he added: "I think they want to. But it's a big machine and it makes lots of money, so why would you change something that's making a huge amount of money?"

Having accepted his fate as the world's most famous fictional secret agent, we should applaud him for wanting to create a Bond with an emotional depth not seen before from the 007 film franchise.

Currently filming Casino Royale in a variety of locations befitting the globe-trotting spy, including Prague and the Bahamas, he said he would give the thumbs up to past Bonds including Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan.

But he is only too aware that there has been less enthusiasm for the Bond outings starring George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton - and that anything but the best means Casino Royale will join the other also-rans.

Daniel said: "The thing is I think Timothy Dalton was great in the part but I think they tried to change it in the wrong direction and he got the rap for it.

"I think George Lazenby got the rap, too. I think On Her Majesty's Secret Service is one of the best movies, because he loses his wife in the movie.

"It's a dodgy place to be walking. I don't really want to get the rap for destroying that franchise. I mean, that wouldn't be a good place to be."

Daniel may be the first blond Bond but suggestions that he will be too bland for the role are wide of the mark.

Instead, his film work to date suggests he has an edge that was missing during the Pierce Brosnan era.

Okay, so he was in Tomb Raider opposite Angelina Jolie. But in the excellent Road To Perdition, Daniel was utterly believable as villain Connor Rooney. Intense back-to-back performances followed - in British gangster flick Layer Cake and the adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel Enduring Love.

In fact, hopes should be high for the 21st Bond movie though fans will have to wait until November 17 for the final judgement.

Meanwhile, Hollywood's finest have closed ranks to support one of their own.

Even Sean Connery seems to think the casting is spot on, having described Daniel as a "terrific choice" for the role of Bond.

Daniel got his big break in the TV series Our Friends In The North but reckons he was always destined for Hollywood.

He said: "I just had an ambition to make movies. I got offered a lot of television roles that were going to pay me a lot of money and I was just like 'but I want to make movies' and the only way to do that was to be poor and stick with it.

"I'm lucky to have been spotted in Our Friends In The North. I think television is a fantastic medium. But if you're going to do it, do it. If you're going to make a fool of yourself make a really big fool of yourself."

If he is taking a risk, it may be in agreeing to become the first Bond not to rely on a plethora of gadgets, special effects and pyrotechnics.

But let's face it, many viewers yawned their way through Bond action sequences in the safe knowledge that all will be well in the end - after all, they can't exactly kill off Bond.

Once again, he'll drive an Aston Martin - but this time any gadgets are inside the car.

That means no machine guns or spiked wheel trims to aid his getaway. And rumour has it that Q does not appear.

But with Eva Green as Vesper Lynd and a bevvy of Bond babes lined up, Casino Royale will have the sex appeal we've come to expect.

Despite the obvious perks, the actor didn't jump at the chance to play the suave spy in the new film because he was afraid he would be typecast forever.

In fact, he considered the offer of the part for a year before giving the Broccolis, who own the franchise, his final answer.

Daniel said: "I kind of feel that if you look at the track record of most Bonds - I mean Sean Connery obviously defined the part, and even he struggled for a while to get rid of the mantle.

"That's the pitfall and it could happen to me. I've been working so hard, for however long it is I've been doing this, to try and stick to doing stuff I totally believe in and that would be wiped out."

But he added: "I thought, 'God, this is all right. I'm doing what I want to do.' And that was a huge weight off my shoulders."

Like the Bonds who've gone before, Daniel will once again brandish the spy's favoured gun, the Walther PPK revolver - but that should be quite a challenge for the actor, who has a real-life loathing of them.

Daniel said: "I hate handguns. Handguns are used to shoot people and as long as they are around, people will shoot each other. That's a simple fact.

"I've seen a bullet wound and it was a mess. It was on a shoot and it scared me. Bullets have a nasty habit of finding their target and that's what's scary about them."

There's little doubt, though, that Daniel will hit the target as the new 007.

'Sean Connery obviously defined the part and even he struggled to get rid of the mantle. That could happen to me'

WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT DOUBLE O DANIEL

PIERCE BROSNAN was dumped as 007 to make way for the younger actor.

"I think Daniel is a very fine actor. These are rocky waters and they're going to get him one way or another. But I think he will have the last laugh at the end of it."

NICOLE KIDMAN will soon be seen opposite Daniel in the film The Visiting which is in post-production at the moment.

"I think Daniel will be great in Casino Royale.

"He is such an accomplished actor. Stephen Daldry, who directed The Hours, said to me 'He is the best actor in England, and if you get a chance to work with him, do it.'"

DAME JUDI DENCH spoke up for him too at the Oscars this week. The 71-year-old actress plays spymaster M in the Bond films.

"I hate how people have been attacking Daniel Craig.

"It's despicable and it disgusts me.

"I've filmed with him in Prague and the Bahamas and he is a fine actor. He brings something new and edgy to the role."

Источник: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk