DANIEL CRAIG

Daniel Craig spent fifteen years looking like he wanted to punch the daylights out of anyone who asked him for an autograph, completely reinventing James Bond as a bruising, stone-cold professional who actually bled. Before he strapped on the Tom Ford suits, Hollywood was used to super-spies who looked like they’d never stepped foot in a proper gym. Daniel completely flipped the script, bringing a raw, working-class grit to the screen that made it look like 007 had just completed a punishing night shift at the docks.

When he was first announced as the new Bond back in 2005, the British tabloids had an absolute collective meltdown, crying into their tea because he was blonde and didn’t fit the traditional pretty-boy mold. He completely shut them up within five minutes of Casino Royale, bursting through drywall and taking absolute lumps from villains. By the time he bowed out with No Time to Die, he had anchored the highest-grossing era in the entire franchise’s history, proving that a modern spy needs to look like he can actually survive a proper fistfight.

The moment he dropped the Walther PPK, Daniel did what any sensible actor does after escaping a multi-billion-pound franchise: he started having a proper laugh. He jumped straight into Rian Johnson’s Knives Out series as the absurdly eccentric, southern-fried detective Benoit Blanc. Ditching the brooding scowl for a linen suit and a hilariously thick Kentucky drawl, he completely stole the show in Glass Onion and Wake Up Dead Man, turning a classic whodunnit into his own personal playground. He also went completely left-field, earning massive critical praise for playing a beautifully messy, chaotic expat in Luca Guadagnino’s intense drama Queer.

Lately, he’s been completely avoiding the typical blockbuster trap, using his massive star power to jump into high-concept passion projects. He’s geared up to play a major, mysterious role in Greta Gerwig’s massive high-fantasy epic Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew for Netflix, and he is continually circling high-brow theater projects that keep him far away from the standard Hollywood nonsense. Daniel Craig has spent his career proving that you can start out as a gritty indie actor, completely conquer the biggest franchise on Earth, and still come out the other side entirely on your own terms.

Insomniacs Trivia

• The Lara Croft Payday Sacrifice: Back when he was a completely skint, struggling theater actor in London, Daniel landed a major look-in playing Angelina Jolie’s rugged love interest in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. While it paid him more money than he’d ever seen in his life, he hated the hollow, heavily commercial block-building experience so much that he used his entire paycheck to fund small, obscure independent British stage plays where he could act for a fraction of the wage.

• The Star Wars Hidden Cameo: Even when you are one of the most famous faces on the planet, you can still sneak into a massive cinematic universe if you’re cheeky enough. While filming next door to Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Pinewood Studios, Daniel begged director J.J. Abrams for a tiny part. He ended up playing the exact Stormtrooper who gets mind-tricked by Rey into dropping his weapon and opening her cell door—completely hidden behind a helmet the entire time.

• The Real-Life Hero Medal: In a brilliant case of life completely imitating art, Daniel was made an honorary Commander in the British Royal Navy—the exact same military rank held by James Bond himself on screen. To top it off, he later received the Order of St Michael and St George from the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle, which is the exact same ultra-rare, high-level spy honour that Ian Fleming’s fictional character received in the original books.

Insomniacs Take

Daniel Craig is a proper, tier-one legend who changed the face of action cinema forever. In a town full of actors who love to look pristine and avoid getting their hands dirty, he treated the most famous spy role in history like a proper, physical shift—shattering his teeth, breaking bones, and pouring actual blood and sweat into every frame. The fact that he can transition from a cold-blooded assassin to a hilariously camp southern detective without losing a single shred of his screen presence is entirely elite. The bloke is a national treasure, and cinema is infinitely better off for his dedication.

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