Daniel Craig, the British actor who has been playing the iconic role of James Bond since 2005, has decided late last year to give up his character and his high-tech watch, spy glass, Ashton Martin, and loads of beautiful women, to become a well-rounded actor that he is.
After doing his fourth James Bond movie, entitled “Spectre,” that was released last year, Craig has come to a decision that he no longer wants to be typecast with the role, which he seems to have taken on a new level following the stint of Irish actor, Pierce Brosnan, who also did four movies as Agent 007 on Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Some six months after his decision to give up being the ever-popular James Bond role, Daniel Craig has reportedly been tapped to play the leading man of American actress Halle Berry in the upcoming movie titled “Kings.”
The film is an independent drama set against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, details Variety.
A loner and a savior
Craig shall portray the role of Ollie, a loner who lives in South Central Los Angeles and falls in love with Halle Berry’s character. So when the riots erupt in their place, he will help Berry in protecting her children from the violence.
Based on history, the riots started a few hours after a jury in suburban Simi Valley acquitted four LA police officers who were accused of using excessive force in the videotaped arrest and beating of Rodney King in 1991 following a high-speed chase.
A total of 55 people died during the LA riots which also triggered looting, assault, and arson that caused the city to lose more than $1 billion in property damage.
“Kings” is to be directed by “Mustang” Director Deniz Gamze Erguyen from her own script. It will be produced by “Mustang” producer Charles Gilbert.
Because of Gilbert and Erguyen, “Kings” will have the same mix of lightness and tough emotion that made “Mustang” such a standout film.
The movie has been Erguyen’s dream project from the time she graduated from the prestigious French Femis film school. She first presented it to the Cannes L’Atelier co-production market back in 2011 before making “Mustang” her directorial debut, details Deadline.
“Mustang” went on to wow critics and viewers and was even nominated for the Oscars for Best Foreign Language film. It also became a box-office smash in France, amassing almost half a million dollars in the country alone.
Gearing up for Non-007 projects
Although he has had several movies not as James Bond since 2005, it was clear that Daniel Craig, just like the other actors before him, was typecast to the role.
And just before he officially ended his association with Barbara Broccoli for the iconic film franchise and spy role, he has already started talking to a lot of interested parties.
Before word broke out about his stint as Ollie in “Kings,” there have also been talks that Daniel Craig was in serious discussion to join Steven Soderbergh’s heist film “Logan Lucky” where he shall be acting along with Channing Tatum, Riley Keogh, and Adam Driver.
Craig has also agreed to star in the 20-episode TV series “Purity” on Showtime for producer Scott Rudin and writer-director Todd Field. “Purity” is based on the novel by Jonathan Franzen and is about a young female activist named Purity or Pip who initiated a worldwide search for her father.
The 48-year-old English actor trained at the National Youth Theater and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1991 which followed a career on stage. His first film was in the drama “The Power of One” shown in 1992.
His interlude with the iconic James Bond role began in October 2005 and his first movie in the franchise is “Casino Royale.”
When he was taken in by the Bond franchise, he became the first actor to portray James Bond to have been born after the Bond series started and after the death of Ian Fleming, the novel’s writer.