Picking a “perfect” actor in the official canon of James Bond movies is one of the highest forms of playing cinematic favorites. That being said, Daniel Craig's 007 run has seen the most recent actor to play the cinematic super spy resting at the top of many rankings within the Bond fan community. Actor Jason Isaacs couldn’t agree with that viewpoint more, as one of his professional experiences with Craig left him with much admiration, and it involves a healthy dose of nudity.
This wasn’t a random answer that came out of nowhere, mind you. While answering fan questions through The Guardian, the Harry Potter franchise veteran was asked why he “never got to play James Bond.” After a slight moment of self-deprecation, Jason Isaacs cited a specific role that made Daniel Craig his favorite Bond, through this reaction to his casting in Casino Royale:
Daniel [Craig] was cast just after we’d done a play together [Angels in America]. He’s one of the only people on the planet who is more comfortable naked than with clothes on, which is why he has been – and will be – the perfect Bond for a long time to come.
Starring together in the National Theatre’s 1993 production of Tony Kushner’s award-winning play, Jason Isaacs and Daniel Craig respectively held the roles of Louis Ironson and Joe Pitt. A gay couple who make up part of the wide-spanning cast that make up Angels in America’s two-part story, Louis and Joe’s affair is complicated by various issues that helped make the show a theatrical landmark.
Reading through the rundown of Angels in America above, you can see where Isaacs gained his familiarity with Craig’s dedicated performance, as well as his body. He’s not wrong in his assumption, as even though James Bond has never engaged in any R-rated nudity, Daniel Craig showed quite a bit of skin during his time in the franchise. With this new piece of information, it’s even easier to see how Craig could have dreamed up a potentially more brutal Casino Royale torture scene with co-star Mads Mikklesen.
While the gleeful collaborators were eventually reigned in, that story only further highlights how this is the sort of confidence that an actor playing 007 definitely needs. Whether it’s through a serious player like Craig or Sean Connery, a more lighthearted figure like Roger Moore, or the performances that George Lazenby and Pierce Brosnan gave in the middle of the spectrum, James Bond needs swagger to spare. The fact that Daniel Craig was perfectly fine with having his wand out in front of a captive audience was all Jason Isaacs needed to become a fan of his previous co-star’s incarnation.
The rest, as they say, is history, and both actors are currently mounting new projects for the public to enjoy. Jason Isaacs can next be seen in the upcoming spy drama Operation Mincemeat, which debuts theatrically in the UK on April 15th, and heads to streaming in the US as a Netflix original on May 11th. Meanwhile, Daniel Craig’s current production of Macbeth is still on hold until April 12th after Craig and some his fellow cast members were diagnosed with COVID. If you want to know what’s coming to a theater near you in the months ahead, you can consult our full list of 2022 movie releases.
