Who is Daniel Wroughton Craig?
The entertainment and acting world knows Daniel Craig as an
English actor and film producer. His early film roles include
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,
Munich,
Road to Perdition and
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
Craig became well known internationally after he was cast as the sixth actor to portray fictional secret agent
James Bond in the
film series. He made his début as the character in the 2006 film,
Casino Royale. He was critically acclaimed, and was nominated for a
BAFTA award, for his portrayal in the film.
[3] He grew into other roles in films such as
Defiance,
Cowboys and Aliens and the upcoming
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and
The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.
Early life
Craig was born 2 March 1968 in
Chester, Cheshire, England. His mother, Carol Olivia (née Williams), was an art teacher, and his father, Timothy John Wroughton Craig, was the landlord of the pubs "Ring o' Bells" (in Frodsham) and "The Boot Inn", and also served as a
midshipman in the
Merchant Navy.
[4][5][6] Both of Craig's parents were of half
Welsh descent.
[7] He was brought up in
Liverpool and on the
Wirral Peninsula,
[8] and attended a primary school in
Frodsham and
Hoylake called Holy Trinity Primary School. He attended
Hilbre High School in later years.
[9] He began acting in school plays at age six.
Craig moved to London when he was sixteen to join the
National Youth Theatre after a stay at Calday.
[6] He and his older sister, Lea, attended
Hilbre High School and
Calday Grange Grammar School in West Kirby. He played for Hoylake Rugby Club.
[10] He attended the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama at the Barbican and graduated in 1991 after three years of study under
Colin McCormack.
Career
Craig appeared as Joe in the
Royal National Theatre's production of
Tony Kushner's
Angels in America in November 1993. 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),
The Golden Compass (2007) and
Defiance (2008).
James Bond: 2005–present
In 2005, Craig was contracted by
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.
[11] 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.
Numerous actors publicly voiced their support of Craig's casting. Most notably, four of the five actors who had previously portrayed Bond –
Pierce Brosnan,
[12] 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.
[13]
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 to date.
[14] After the film was released, Craig's performance was highly acclaimed.
[15]
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,
[16] was to be released on 7 November 2008 and that Craig plays Bond with an option for a third film.
[17] 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.
[18]
In 2006, Craig was invited to join the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
[19]
On 12 June 2008, Craig sliced the top of one of his fingers off while filming
Quantum of Solace.
[20] 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.
[21]
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.”
[22] 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".
[23] His favourite Bond film is
From Russia with Love.
[24] On a James Bond-centric episode of
The South Bank Show, Connery divulged his thoughts on Craig's casting as Bond, whom he described as "fantastic, marvelous in the part." When he was told that Craig had taken particular note of his performances, Connery said that he was "flattered," and that Craig "really gets" the 'danger element' to Bond's character.
[25]
On 19 April 2010, Craig's expected third Bond film (the 23rd overall in the series) was announced to have been suspended indefinitely due to the crippling debt and uncertain future of MGM.
[26] However, both Craig and Sam Mendes hoped to resume work on the film soon. The film has since resumed and Craig will return as Bond once again,
[27] with the film due for release on 9 November 2012.
Other projects
In 1999, Craig starred as Richard in a TV drama called
Shockers: The Visitor. In 2007, he portrayed
Lord Asriel in
The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of
Philip Pullman's novel.
[28] 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."
[29] 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 programme.
[30]
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,
[31] and in 2009
Del Monte Foods launched an
ice pop molded to resemble Craig emerging from the sea.
[32]
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 10 September 2009 and closed on 6 December 2009.
[33]
Craig lent his voice and likeness as James Bond for both the
Wii game
GoldenEye 007, an enhanced remake of the
1997 game for the
Nintendo 64, and
Blood Stone, an original game for
Xbox 360,
PlayStation 3,
Nintendo DS, and
Microsoft Windows.
As of August 2010, Craig has been cast as crusading journalist
Mikael Blomkvist in
David Fincher's
adaptation of
Stieg Larsson's novel
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
[34]
Personal life
 |
| Fiona Loudon |
In 1992, Craig married Scottish actress Fiona Loudon, with whom he has a daughter, Ella. However, the marriage ended in divorce in 1994.
[35] After his divorce he was in a seven-year relationship with
German actress
Heike Makatsch, ending in 2001. He subsequently dated film producer
Satsuki Mitchell from 2004 until 2010.
[36] Craig and actress
Rachel Weisz began dating in December 2010.
[37] Craig and Weisz married on 22 June 2011
[36][38] in a private New York ceremony, with only four guests in attendance, including Craig's 18-year-old daughter and Weisz's four-year-old son.
[39]
In October 2008, Craig paid
£4 million for an apartment near
Regent's Park, London
[40] Craig is also a
Liverpool F.C. supporter.
[41]
Filmography
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Who is Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni? The entertainment and acting world knows Tea Leoni as an American actress. She has starred in a wide range of films including Jurassic Park III, The Family Man, Deep Impact, Fun with Dick and Jane, Spanglish, Bad Boys and Ghost Town.
Leoni was born February 25, 1966 in New York City, the daughter of Emily Ann (née Patterson), a dietician and nutritionist, and Anthony Pantaleoni, a corporate lawyer of the firm Fulbright & Jaworski.[1][2] Leoni’s mother is a native of Texas, and her father is of Italian, English and Polish descent.[3][4][5] Leoni attended two private schools, Brearley School and The Putney School. She attended but did not complete studies at Sarah Lawrence College.
Leoni went on to appear in the women's baseball film A League of Their Own in 1992. Later in the year, she starred with Corey Parker in the single-season Fox sitcom Flying Blind, playing a beautiful, eccentric, downtown-Manhattan libertine who falls in love with an ordinary Long Island college graduate. In February 1995, she appeared in the sitcom Frasier as the fiance of Sam Malone, portrayed by guest star Ted Danson, in a crossover from Cheers.
Leoni married her first husband, Neil Joseph Tardio, Jr., a television commercial producer, on June 8, 1991, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Hope, New Jersey.[8]
On October 15, 2008, Leoni and Duchovny confirmed that they had been separated "for several months." The media attributed the separation to Duchovny's much publicized sexual addiction.[9] The couple have since publicly reconciled and are seen frequently together as a family.[10]
