By JAN MOIR FOR THE BE INFORMED MAIL
PUBLISHED: 00:40 GMT, 20 May 2016 | UPDATED: 02:04 GMT, 20
May 2016
There comes a moment, in the life of every spy, when he must
come in from the cold. For Daniel Craig, that moment came this week, when the
48-year-old actor declared he was ‘done’ playing James Bond. Done, done, done!
I tell you what is done, oh Danny boy — my aching heart. For
Craig has ignored the entreaties of his fans and turned down £68 million to
appear in the next two films, which suggests he must have been desperate to
slip from his human Bond-age.
Certainly, he had started moaning about it a lot. Too much!
Daniel Craig (pictured in 2005 when it was announced he had
won the role) declared he was ‘done’ playing James Bond this week
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The chiselled hunk would boast about doing all his own stunts,
then complain about the knee injury that ensued.
He would whine that Bond was too misogynistic for modern
tastes, and seemed to want to recast him as some kind of vegan metrosexual who
liked to empathise with the chicks, instead of bedding them all like daffodil
bulbs, as is traditional.
Thankfully, that milksop transformation never happened.
Instead, Craig managed to imbue the world’s most famous spy with a raw shot of
aggression and pure physicality — but also made him modern and complex.
Craig’s Bond was a true patriot; the kind of trained killer
who was dangerous but also, you know, decent. And I like that he took it all so
darned seriously.
No wonder that a lot of female interest was sharpened by
this contemporary portrayal of the celebrated MI6 operative. Not least of all
because, for the first time, Bond’s ladykiller reputation was justified — and
convincing.
Women believed that women really would fall for him in an
instant. Just try to stop us even if, way back at the beginning, the omens were
less than promising.
For a start, a blond Bond? It was unthinkable. And his ears
were too far down his head, like a mouse. Craig was also a bit of a shorty who
looked like Mr Potato Head from some angles and had an odd habit of pouting at
the most inopportune moments.
Jan Moir points out the actor (in 2012's Skyfall, above) had
started moaning about the role 'a lot. Too much!
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Plus there seemed to be scant glamour and a distinct lack of
upper-class polish from the man who starred in gangster flick Layer Cake and
once dated Kate Moss. Even more worrying; in some of his first Bond publicity
shots, he looked like an elf in a dinner jacket.
Then Casino Royale was released in 2006, and all bets were
off.
For Daniel Craig has been an absolute sensation as James
Bond, his thrillingly intense depiction of the super spy making all the others
look like weary fakers or jocular twerps who were too hung up on their
exploding pens and Bond girls in cat suits to do the genre justice.
And now this. It seems far too soon for Craig to hand up
Bond’s Walther PPK and sprint off into the sunset, but there is no turning back
now.
With a natural heir — in the shape of Tom Hiddleston — already
waiting in the wings, we are clearly approaching the end of a Bond era.
Craig feels that he has done his time in the spy trenches
and who could blame him?
In the meantime, millions of Dan-fans have been plunged into
a Bondish bereavement, mourning the fact that our boy will never again climb
into his too-tight tux to order a martini, to pout like a sulky duckling and to
save the world without breaking sweat.
Here are just some of the reasons why we are going to miss
him so much .
Daniel’s famous Ursula Andress moment came in Casino Royale,
as he stepped out of the surf and along the beach in a pair of skimpy blue
trunks
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The Most Buff Bond Ever
Craig was the seventh screen James Bond and he worked out
more than the other six put together. The result was a superspy superstructure,
a totally buffed bod complete with the most magnificent arms since Popeye first
swung a can of spinach.
His bulging biceps made predecessors such as Pierce ‘Chest
Hair’ Brosnan and Roger ‘Eyebrows’ Moore look like weeds by comparison.
He could knock a man out cold, they couldn’t knock the skin
off an olive.
Those Budgie Smugglers
Daniel’s famous Ursula Andress moment came in Casino Royale,
as he stepped out of the surf and along the beach in a pair of skimpy blue
trunks. Or a pair of La Perla Grigioperla Lodato square-leg swimshorts from the
spring summer 2006 collection, to be precise. The avian contrabrand captors
sold out instantly, but pairs still occasionally turn up on eBay for large sums
of money.
There was no plot reason for 007 to walk across the beach in
this get-up, but we are all ever so grateful he did.
Yes, It Is A Gun In His Pocket
Daniel insisted on fewer sex scenes than in previous Bond
adventures. Just as well, as his seduction technique is thrillingly
non-existent. He just appears, and women float into his arms like untethered
balloons.
In Spectre, Monica Belluci was a grieving widow who just
buried her husband — what better distraction than a quickie with Bond after the
funeral? In Skyfall, the pest interrupts Bérénice Marlohe’s shower time — and
she hadn’t even lost her soap.
Daniel's Bond was not afraid to break the mould in a way
that appalled purists. There is a moment in Skyfall when Oik Oik Seven ditches
the spy’s traditional martini and relaxes with a glass of Heineken lager
instead
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The Things He Says
‘I can’t find the stationery. Can you come and help me
look?’ His way of getting Gemma Arterton into his bedroom in Spectre.
‘I like you better without your Beretta.’ Whispered to
Bérénice in the shower (see above).
‘I’m sorry I’m not sorry.’ Could be his mantra.
‘It was only four ribs and some of the less vital organs.
Nothing major.’ When colleague Naomie Harris apologies for accidentally
shooting him.
‘I have no armour left. You’ve stripped it from me. Whatever
is left of me, whatever I am, I’m yours.’ To Eva Green, when they fall in love.
Random Excitements
In Skyfall, Daniel disguises himself by wearing a
chauffeur’s uniform.
Daniel insisted on fewer sex scenes than in previous Bond
adventures. Just as well, as his seduction technique is thrillingly
non-existent. He just appears, and women float into his arms like untethered
balloons
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