Michael Fassbender may be the reason Daniel Craig landed the role of James Bond.
The 47-year-old actor has revealed that when Pierce Brosnan stepped down as 007, he was maybe, sort of, kind of in the running to replace him—that is, until his ‘terrible’ audition.
Instead of using his allocated time to wow the now-former Bond producers, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, he accidentally used it to sell them on why they should hire Daniel, 57.
In a recent interview, Michael retold the hilarious story, admitting that he still doesn’t know why he was promoting his fellow actor, but thinks it has something to do with the fact that auditions just aren’t his thing.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Michael explained: ‘I met with [former producer] Barbara Broccoli just, you know, through passing, and I actually went in for an audition phase before Daniel [Craig] was cast, but I don’t think I was ever in the mix.’
‘But I remember going into that room and meeting with her and [fellow producer] Michael G.] Wilson, and I think I was like: “Daniel Craig is [really good]”.’
‘I don’t know why I was promoting him; I should have been promoting myself … This is what I was saying: I was terrible at auditions,’ he added.
Daniel took on the role of 007 almost two decades ago now, in 2006, with his first film, Casino Royale, becoming the highest-grossing movie in the franchise at the time.
During his tenure as the iconic MI6 spy, he made five films and departed in 2021 with his final production, No Time To Die.
‘Obviously Daniel did a fantastic job and went on to be I think the most successful Bond in history but that was it really, there was never a conversation [with me] after that,’ Michael added.
While the star did miss out on 007, it doesn’t seem to have harmed his career as he has gone on to land some major roles, including in X-Men: First Class, Assassain’s Creed, The Killer and even took a four-year break to pursue his passion for auto racing.
Now, he’s working on the sequel to the 2015 short-film Kung Fury, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and David Hasselhoff.
As for who he thinks the next Bond will be, much like the hundreds of thousands of other fans, Michael knows who he would like to see in the suit: Former Bridgerton star Rege-Jean Page.
He recently told Us Weekly: ‘I think Rege would be amazing. I’d love Rege to be the next James Bond. But who knows? I don’t know what’s going to happen.’
The sentiment was echoed by Naomie Harris, who played Moneypenny in three of Daniel Craig’s Bond films (Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time to Die).
She said: ‘I think Regé would be amazing. I’d love Regé to be the next James Bond. But who knows? I don’t know what’s going to happen.’
While heavily rumoured to be in the running, Rege-Jean, 37, doesn’t appear to be on the same page as everyone else and told Entertainment Tonight earlier this week: ‘It’s not something I’ve thought about very much.’
Speculation about the franchise’s future has only grown in recent weeks after Amazon Studio’s bombshell billion-dollar deal with longtime producers Barbara and Michael put 007 in new hands.
Amazon acquired the rights to the franchise through its parent studio Eon, founded in 1961, when it bought MGM in 2022 for $8.45billion (£6.69bn), duly forming its own studio.
Since the takeover, Amazon has kept tight-lipped, and fans are still eagerly awaiting confirmation of who will be the next secret agent.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been the frontrunner for a while, and it’s understood he could be competing against Theo James, who is also tipped for the role of Bond when the time finally comes.
Theo, 39, has appeared on many possible Bond lists alongside the likes of Henry Cavill, rising star Aaron Pierre, Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey and James Norton.
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