Empire UK

Is that how you remember it Daniel?
Craig: I went to see Sam at Neal Street and
walked into his office and he said “Right
so I want you to play Paul Newman’s
son.” I went “Right well this meeting ’s
over” (pretends to get up and leave). Of
course I want the fucking job! Then he
flew me out to Chicago. It was hard. It
was a Chicago accent but the word came
back “Don’t do a thick accent” which is
the worst thing in the world. I should
have just come in and done fucking
Capone. I went to see (dialect coach) Joan
Washington and we worked on this really
subtle accent and I couldn’t do it (starts
slurring). When I came to read with
you all I could think about was “accent
accent accent” and it was fucking terrible.
He did look at me at the end of it and go
“That was awful. But you’ve got the job.”
And then he took me out and introduced
me to (cinematographer) Conrad Hall.
Mendes: I already knew you see. I just
wanted to hear him read a few lines.
I was just being an arsehole. We stacked
this cast with Hanks and Paul Newman
and Jude Law and Stanley Tucci. The
studio wanted somebody with a name
and at that stage Daniel was not a movie
actor. In fact initially I didn’t know who
to cast. I couldn’t find a person who
I thought was right. I was sitting round
at a friend’s house and he was watching
the Sword Of Honour trilogy and
I remember thinking “That’s Daniel
Craig. I saw him in Angels Of America.
He’s great.” So I called him in and when
I saw him I thought “Yeah definitely.”
But then I had to persuade the studio.

And over a decade later you reunited
on Skyfall. How did that happen?
Craig: It was quite a while after
Quantum. I was doing a play in New York
(A Steady Rain with Hugh Jackman). We
were at a party and I’d had a few beers
and my tongue was loosened. I hadn’t
seen Sam for ages and we sat down and
had a chat and this light bulb went on
and I said “Do you want to do Bond?”
Which is completely not my place to say.
But he went silent and then said “Yeah.”
Mendes: I literally hadn’t thought of it.
I remember seeing him at a party shortly
after Casino [Royale] and I said “I’m
really proud of you.” But it never occurred
to me that I would do it myself. But at that
point in my life I wanted to come back
home I wanted to come back to England
and work on a bigger scale so it all made
sense. I’ve often thought that if I hadn’t
gone to that party I don’t think either of
us would have necessarily had the idea.
Craig: Yeah. I don’t know.
Mendes: We just sat there chatting

and it grew from there and he’s

regretted it ever since.

Craig: Drink is a terrible thing (laughs).

Did you keep in touch after Road

To Perdition?

Craig: Sam would come and see plays

I was in. We would say hello.

Mendes: I watched from afar as he went

and did Bond. We hadn’t really. Then

I went to see him doing by the way a very

good Chicago accent in A Steady Rain...

Craig: It took me ten years but I got

it eventually!

Mendes: With Hugh Jackman and it

was in fact Hugh Jackman’s party...

Craig: That’s right yeah.

Mendes: ... Where we chatted about

Bond. I was living in New York at the

time and I’d seen Hugh recently and he

said “Why don’t you come along?”

Is it a work-centric relationship?

Do you talk about football? Music?

Mendes: He took me to an American

“I think that

‘reboot’ is

a fucking awful

word. These

movies are rare.”

DANIEL CRAIG