To audiences around the world he is Bond, James Bond, but this week Daniel Craig puts on his cowboy boots and becomes a man with no name in the high concept summer blockbuster Cowboys and Aliens.
Directed by Iron Man’s Jon Favreau, Craig plays a stranger with no memory of his past as he helps the citizens of a Wild West town fend off an alien invasion. For Craig this was an easy sell, as it fulfilled a childhood fantasy of his. “I think I’ve always wanted to play a cowboy, so that was the bottom line” he said. “I watched lots of John Wayne, Butch and Sundance in preparation for the role. I’m just reeling off Westerns now. I kind of stole everything I could – but nothing specific.”
He is obviously most famous for playing 007, but how did this action-heavy role compare to playing the super spy? “It was just different. I don’t get to ride many horses in Bond. That was the main distinction, I guess,” he laughed. “There’s a lot more that I couldn’t do in this because horse riding, although I’m getting better at it, I’m no expert.
"So, a lot of what you see is my brilliant double and my brilliant stuntmen. Funnily enough, I picked up more bruises at the studio, when we got back to LA, than I did out on my own, when we were on location. I think everything’s made of fibre glass and that seems to scrape and bruise you worse than the real thing.”
Finally, in addition to playing a cowboy, Craig fulfilled another dream of his by starring opposite action legend Harrison Ford. “I don’t know when Blade Runner came out but I went to the cinema and sat in the cinema on my own. I had no idea what was playing but Blade Runner came on and I thought then ‘I want to work with that man,’ and I did.”
Cowboys and Aliens is out now. To read all James' reviews of the latest releases, visit www.basingstokeobserver.co.uk
