Craig Breaks the String

Daniel Craig, the latest actor to play superspy James Bond, seems to be getting rave reviews for Casino Royale -- even in China.

Alas, Craig breaks one of the cinema's more whimsical traditions: that of each new Bond actor being a new nationality. Previous Bonds have included Sean Connery (born in Scotland), George Lazenby (Australia), Roger Moore (England), Timothy Dalton (Wales), and Pierce Brosnan (Ireland). Craig is an Englishman, same as Moore. (Russell Crowe, born in New Zealand, was the obvious choice.)

Craig, happily, breaks a less fond tradition: he's the first actor under 40 to play the role in over 35 years. Connery was 32 when he first played Bond in Dr. No (1962), and George Lazenby was 30 in 1969 for On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Since then we've had Moore (age 46 at his Bond debut in Live and Let Die in 1973), Dalton (41 for The Living Daylights in 1987), and Brosnan (42 for Goldeneye in 1995). Craig at 38 is no spring chicken himself, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Moore takes the all-time award for Bond geriatricity: he was a whopping 58 years old when he played Bond for the last time, in 1985's A View To a Kill.

For still more on the Bond actors, see our loop Played Bond.