Portrait · Zach Catanzareti Photo; existing crop by TaurusEmerald / CC BY 2.0

Daniel Craig

Actor and producer

Born 1968

Daniel Craig is an English actor whose career spans British television, independent film, international franchises and the stage. Born in Chester, Cheshire, on March 2, 1968, he became widely known as James Bond while continuing to build a varied record beyond that character. His five Bond films began with Casino Royale and ended with No Time to Die. His interest in performing grew before professional training. Childhood school productions, including Oliver!, helped provide an early setting for acting, and cinema became another source of fascination. At sixteen he moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre. Those beginnings connect a north-west England upbringing with the institutions and working habits that shaped his adult career. His mother, Olivia, an art teacher, took him to Liverpool’s Everyman, where he spent time backstage. In 1984 he joined the National Youth Theatre in London, later working there as a handyman. Craig graduated from Guildhall’s acting programme in 1991. The school later recognised his inclusion in the New Year Honours, where he became a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for services to film and theatre. In BAFTA’s career conversation he described the importance of teachers, casting and learning how to work. His account gives particular weight to National Youth Theatre mentors and to the confidence that came with demanding roles. Love Is the Devil was one of the experiences through which he developed a clearer sense of what he could contribute. The television work, theatre training and early independent films belong to the same gradual development, rather than a sudden beginning with Bond. His agency’s career record shows that range across film, television and theatre. Some Voices brought a British Independent Film Award, while Love Is the Devil had brought recognition at Edinburgh. These smaller-scale projects remain part of the record alongside the later franchise films. Looking back while discussing Queer, he recalled The Power of One as his first film and the experience of filming in Zimbabwe. His recollections also include a difficult Road to Perdition audition and the impact of working with Steven Spielberg on Munich. They show a career assembled through individual encounters and opportunities. His collaboration with Luca Guadagnino on Queer gave that career another direction after the Bond years. In their joint conversation the actor and director discussed the trust and creative risk involved in the project. Craig’s work as William Lee sits alongside the contrasting figure of detective Benoit Blanc, rather than extending the same screen persona. Wake Up Dead Man returned him to Blanc in 2025. Rian Johnson’s third mystery continued the character introduced in Knives Out and revisited in Glass Onion. Work outside acting includes a completed UNMAS appointment advocating the elimination of mines and explosive hazards. That role began in April 2015 and concluded in April 2023. His announced future work includes Uncle Andrew in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia adaptation. Netflix’s September 2026 update places its theatrical and streaming releases in 2027; the film remains forthcoming in this checked record.

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Connected people

ConnectionRachel WeiszSpouse; marriage publicly recorded since 2011.

ConnectionLuca GuadagninoQueer director and interview collaborator.

ConnectionRian JohnsonDirector of the Benoit Blanc mysteries.

People in their public story

Frequent Collaborators

Rachel Weisz

Spouse; marriage publicly recorded since 2011.

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Luca Guadagnino

Queer director and interview collaborator.

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Rian Johnson

Director of the Benoit Blanc mysteries.

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David Oyelowo

Othello opposite Craig’s Iago.

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Hugh Jackman

A Steady Rain co-star.

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Sam Taylor-Johnson

Interviewed and photographed Craig under the name Sam Taylor-Wood.

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