Casino Royale director admits thinking Daniel Craig wasn’t sexy enough to play James Bond

Imagine thinking Daniel Craig isn’t “sexy” enough to play James Bond. That’s madness of the highest order. Craig oozes swagger whether he’s foiling a plot for world domination or solving crimes as Benoit Blanc. Still, Casino Royale director Martin Campbell had concerns about casting Craig as the legendary British superspy after Pierce Brosnan lit up screens.

“My only reticence with Daniel…he was really a superb actor, there’s no doubt about that,” Campbell told Variety. “It was the fact that with people like Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan was that they were all traditional-looking Bonds. All handsome guys, all sexy, all very attractive to women and so forth.”

“Daniel was obviously tougher and rugged, but he wasn’t a traditional handsome guy,” he added. “So I just thought about that for a minute and apart from that, absolutely it was always him.”

While explaining the “democratic” process of choosing the next actor to play James Bond, Campbell said there were “eight people” to consider for the role in Casino Royale. Campbell spoke about the high-pressure casting process, “You sit around a table…It was myself and the producers, casting director, etc. And you go through the eight people and you put your hand up as you talk through each person and ultimately everybody has to be unanimous in their decision, if you see what I mean.”

Campbell says Henry Cavill was in the running, but despite nailing the audition, he looked too young for the part. Meanwhile, longtime Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams told Entertainment Weekly she “felt sorry” for Craig after press members ate him alive when the studio crowned him as Brosnan’s replacement.

“It was unbelievably negative, I have to say,” McWilliams said in a 2021 interview about the reaction to Craig’s casting. “The press response was awful and I felt so sorry for him, but in a funny kind of a way I think it almost spurred him on to do his damndest to prove everybody wrong.”

The complaints about Craig’s inclusion in the series were vast and, in some cases, absurd. People said he can’t walk and talk like Bond or drive a car like the iconic character. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, recasting a character permits a refresh of old formulas. Craig is going to make the role his own. It’s the nature of taking the torch. After several films, audiences grew to love Craig’s Bond, and I count myself among them.

Do you think Daniel Craig is sexy enough to stand alongside other actors who’ve played James Bond? Let us know in the comments section below.