{"id":23094,"date":"2022-10-04T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1715252"},"modified":"2022-10-04T09:26:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T07:26:10","slug":"bond-producer-had-to-fight-to-hire-daniel-craig-says-casting-director","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/bond-producer-had-to-fight-to-hire-daniel-craig-says-casting-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Bond producer had to fight to hire Daniel Craig, says casting director"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 04 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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James Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams has suggested that Daniel Craig would never have been cast as 007 if not for producer Barbara Broccoli \u201cforcing the issue\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the BFI\u2019s \u2018In conversation: 60 years of James Bond\u2019 event, McWilliams \u2013 who has cast every Bond film since 1983\u2019s Octopussy \u2013 claimed that Broccoli had to fight for Craig amid uncertainty over his hiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was the most extraordinary outrage when Daniel was cast,\u201d she said. \u201cThe press that he got was so awful.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cReally, he didn\u2019t have many people who wanted him in the first place \u2013 if it hadn\u2019t been for Barbara absolutely forcing the issue through, he wouldn\u2019t have been James Bond.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, McWilliams suggested that the initial backlash in some quarters to Craig\u2019s casting \u2013 which of course dissipated upon the release of 2006\u2019s Casino Royale<\/a> \u2013 \u201cdrove him to rise to the occasion\u201d.<\/span><\/p>

In fact, Casino Royale co-writer Robert Wade argued that Craig\u2019s experiences off-screen in some way reflected Bond\u2019s own baptism of fire in the film. \u201cIt sort of tied in\u2026 what Daniel went through in that process, it really tied in with what the script was asking of Bond,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d made a Bond that was not perfect, he wasn\u2019t better than everyone else, and he kept getting knocked down but the point was he kept getting up and I think that\u2019s what Daniel did when he was having that terrible reception \u2013 he just carried on, got up\u2026 and he won. So it was his story and the character\u2019s story all tied together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Daniel Craig as James Bond and Judi Dench as M in 2008\u2019s Quantum of Solace<\/span><\/figcaption> Danjaq, LLC, United Artists Corporation, Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

At the same event, Bond producer Michael G Wilson briefly touched on the future of the film series<\/a> now that Craig has retired from the lead role following a five-movie stint. \u201cWe want to satisfy the audiences but we need to surprise them and refresh it, so that\u2019s the challenge,\u201d he hinted.<\/p>\n

Back in June, Broccoli had suggested that filming on the next 007 movie is \u201cat least two years away<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n

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