Michael Fassbender has revealed that, during talks for the role of James Bond in the mid-2000s, he inadvertently helped out Daniel Craig in getting the part.
READ MORE: Black Bag review – suave, silly and sexually-charged marital spy thriller
While still and up-and-coming star at the time, Fassbender was one of many names considered for the role which would eventually go to Craig.
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast to promote his new film Black Bag, Fassbender was asked how close he came to actually being 007, and the actor revealed he ended up advocating for his competitor Craig instead.
“I met with (producer) Barbara Broccoli just you know through passing and I actually went in to an audition phase before Daniel was cast, but I don’t think I was ever in the mix,” he said. “But I remember going into that room and meeting with her and (Michael G.) Wilson and I think I was like, ‘Daniel Craig is…’ I don’t know why I was promoting him. I should have been promoting myself”.
The star concluded: “This is what I was saying. I was terrible at auditions,” before commending Craig again when he said: “Obviously Daniel did a fantastic job and went on to be, I think, the most successful Bond in history. But that was it really, there was never a conversation after that”.
Daniel Craig would play James Bond for five films, from 2006’s Casino Royale to 2021’s No Time To Die. By many metrics, he is the most successful Bond actor in history – the top five highest grossing films in the series are all his; 2012’s Skyfall became the first film in the franchise to pass $1billion at the global box office; and he became the first Bond lead to be nominated for a major award for his performance, receiving a BAFTA nod for Casino Royale.
Fassbender would go on to find success as a leading man, being nominated twice at the Oscars for 12 Years A Slave and Steve Jobs. He’d also be known for the successful X-Men prequel films, two Alien movies, and spy series The Agency.
The hunt is on for the next 007 as the franchise enters a new era, with Amazon assuming creative control of the series. Asked last November who he wanted to succeed him, Craig bluntly answered “I don’t care”.
The post Michael Fassbender helped put Daniel Craig in mix for James Bond role appeared first on NME.
