The director has confirmed he’ll be stepping down from the franchise following the release of ‘Spectre'.
Spectre director Sam Mendes has revealed he didn’t think friend Daniel Craig was a good fit for the role of James Bond when the actor was first cast as 007. Speaking to the BBC, Mendes said he initially thought Craig as Bond was a terrible idea but that he now thinks the franchise has 'adapted' to the actor.
Sam Mendes did not think Daniel Craig should play Bond.
"I had cast Daniel Craig in this film I made in Chicago called Road To Perdition about 15 years ago and it was his first big American film,” Mendes said. “Then the role of Bond came up years later and I was called by Entertainment Weekly, a showbiz publication, and they said your old friend and collaborator has been suggested as Bond, what do you think? I said 'terrible idea - he shouldn't do it’”
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"Because for me at the time I thought Bond had become the opposite of what Daniel is - a slightly disengaged, urbane jokey eyebrow raising, you know, a pastiche in a way and I feel Daniel's reality, passion and sort of honesty as an actor would not work."
"But of course the franchise adapted to work with Daniel and when I saw it at the cinema I thought it was a fantastic piece of casting. And it was that that got me reinterested in Bond as a movie."
Mendes went on to direct Craig as Bond in 2012’s Skyfall and he’s also behind the camera for Spectre, 007’s latest adventure which hits cinemas this October. The film, which is the 24th installment of the franchise, has been revealed to be Mendes last outing as director after he confirming he wont be doing a third Bond movie.
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“I said no to the last one and then ended up doing it,” the director said. “But I do think this is probably it. I don’t think I could go down that road again. You have to put everything else on hold.”
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