Casino Royale Director Preferred Henry Cavill's James Bond Audition, Apparently
Before Daniel Craig was cast as James Bond, the producers considered a number of other actors, including Henry Cavill. According to Kingsman and Argylle director Matthew Vaughn, Casino Royale director Martin Campbell wanted Cavill over Craig, but 007 producer Barbara Broccoli ultimately went with Craig.
Appearing on Sirius XM (via IGN), Vaughn said he was at Pinewood Studios back in the day and saw Cavill and Craig come through for auditions for James Bond. Craig apparently told Vaughn that Cavill was testing for James Bond as well, and that's how Cavill would eventually get on Vaughn's radar and later star in his 2007 movie Stardust.
Vaughn went on to say he knew that Campbell "preferred" Cavill's audition for James Bond. But Broccoli was convinced to cast Craig instead after seeing him in Vaughn's 2004 movie Layer Cake. What's more, Vaughn said he heard that Cavill was "too young" for the role.
"I probably shouldn't have said that, but the Broccolis aren't that keen on me anyway, so what have I got to lose?" Vaughn said. "But he would be excellent. But it's unfair for him to discuss about a project that he might be involved with or not and ruin it because of a question."
Campbell himself previously told Sunday Express that it came down to Cavill and Craig, and that "none of us making the casting decision were 100 percent sure."
"Perhaps Henry Cavill was too young for it then; he was 22 at the time we auditioned for Casino Royale," he added.
Everyone is wondering who will play James Bond in the next movie following Craig's five-movie run as the British superspy. We still don't know, but Broccoli has said it is likely to be a British man who gets the role. The next James Bond movie aims to be a "reinvention" of the franchise, and the producers are apparently looking for a thirty-something actor.
Outside of the films, Hitman developer IO Interactive is developing a new James Bond game that tells an origin story for the British spy.
