James Bond director worried Daniel Craig wasn’t as “sexy” as other 007s

Martin Campbell, the director of Casino Royale, feared Daniel Craig wasn’t as “sexy” or “handsome” as the other actors who’ve played James Bond.

007 was initially brought to life by Barry Nelson in Climax’s Casino Royale episode, the first adaptation of Ian Fleming’s work. Sean Connery then donned the dox in 1962’s Dr. No, the launchpad of the James Bond movie franchise.

Since then, five other actors (excluding David Niven, who starred in a parody version of Casino Royale) have taken on the role: George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig, with the latter star holding the record for the longest tenure of 16 years as the character.

It may seem baffling in hindsight, considering how widely revered his portrayal of Bond is considered to be now, but Craig’s casting inspired a vitriolic response from fans – and the director even worried he may not be “handsome” enough.

Casino Royale director wondered if Daniel Craig was a “sexy” James Bond

In a recent interview with the Express, Campbell reminisced about the process of choosing Craig to play Bond. “The way they work with Bond, and it’s pretty terrific, is when they decide on the actor and you audition – in our case, it was eight people – it’s very democratic. You sit around a table, eight or nine of you.

“It was myself and the producers, casting director etc 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 only had one concern when it came to Craig. “My only reticence with Daniel… he was really a superb actor, there’s no doubt about that… 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,” he explained.

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

After his quotes were shared on social media, fans had a predictable response. “He was definitely wrong about that!” one wrote.

“Wtf? He is one of the saddest and hottest characters I’ve seen in the movies, besides Anakin Skywalker of course but he has that energy what are you talking about,” another tweeted. “Is he blind? I was always smitten by him when I see him as a bond. He is the sexiest one,” a third wrote.

You can find out what we know about Bond 26 here, and check out our other James Bond coverage here.