news.com.au said:
Spy who was unloved
From:
By Justine Parker and wires
February 24, 2006
CONTROVERSIAL new James Bond Daniel Craig is looking shaken and stirred after a catastrophic start to his career in the role of Hollywood's favourite secret agent.
Fans are campaigning against his casting in the role, and Craig stunned studio bosses this week when he reportedly revealed he couldn't drive 007's classic car while filming the latest instalment of the legendary Bond franchise, Casino Royale.
And it's not just Craig's ego that's looking bloodied and bruised - the Layer Cake star reportedly lost two teeth on the weekend while filming fight scenes for Casino Royale.
Blond Bond Craig told filmmakers he didn't have a license to drive a manual car after they transported 007's original Aston Martin DB5 to the Bahamas for the film shoot, Britain's Daily Star newspaper has reported.
"Er, I don't do gears," he reportedly said.
Producers had to modify the wheels, which Sean Connery drove when he played the dashing spy, so Craig, 39, can drive it.
"We have had to adapt it so it's like an automatic. You don't expect that with James Bond, to be honest," a studio insider said to the Daily Mail.
Last year, Craig admitted another technical hitch - he is afraid of guns.
"I hate handguns," he said at the time.
"They are used to shoot people and as long as they are around, people will shoot each other. I've seen a bullet wound and it was a mess."
Angry 007 fans have launched craignotbond.com, asking the public to sign a petition against the gun-shy careful driver after the series of stuff-ups was made public.
"EON Productions angered fans around the world when they fired ex-Bond Pierce Brosnan at the height of his popularity. To add insult to injury, EON cast a short, blond, odd-looking Daniel Craig in the role of Bond," statement on the site said.
"... If EON Productions and Sony Pictures will not accept they've made a big mistake, then Bond fans promise to boycott Casino Royale>/i>".
Brosnan was only replaced because producers refused to give him a pay rise, the website also claimed.
Meanwhile, Brosnan has stepped into the fray, saying he'd love to play 007 again.
The star, who was ditched after playing the sexy spy in the previous four instalments, says he'd love to reprise the role if Craig doesn't work out.
"If such a scenario arose, I would jump at it," he said to the Daily Star.
But Brosnan also revealed his own litany of injuries after Craig's weekend tooth-shattering incident - none of which were held up to media scrutiny during his popular reign in the role.
"It never made it in to the papers, but I've had my face sliced open by a stuntman and a knee injury," he said.
"But it's all part and parcel of being Bond. I'm afraid Daniel will have to face a lot more real-life injuries."
with BANG Showbiz.
http://entertainment.news.com.au/stor
I like Craig, but the whole thing about Bond was that men wanted to be like him and women wanted to be with him.