Mark Strong, known for his roles in theKingsmanseries and the newly releasedCruella, recently revealed to Sky One’sThere’s Something About Moviesthat he had previously auditioned to be aJames Bondvillain. The audition had taken place during the ’90s and was when the franchise starred Pierce Brosnan as the titular protagonist.
Unfortunately, due to a heavy night of drinking prior to the day of the audition, things didn’t go quite to plan. The real irony here is that Strong’s drinking buddy that night was none other than future 007 James Bond himself,Daniel Craig. Speaking on the experience, Mark Strong had this to say.
“I learned the lines … and to celebrate I went out for a drink, and I got pissed. I overdid it and the next day I was severely hungover.
Obviously not one to give up easily,Mark Strongwearily made his way to the potentially career altering audition and tried his best to impress the eight executives facing him behind their desks. Alas, it was not his day.
“I started, then I just forgot my lines, couldn’t remember what they were and they all just kind of fell apart. I was sweating, it was a terrible experience - but I really learned from it.”
He then revealed that Daniel Craig was his drinking buddy on that fateful night. He and Craig have previously lived together and co-starred in the BBC dramaOur Friends in the North.
“The irony was, the guy I was out the night before getting pissed with was Daniel Craig. So I blame him!”
Daniel Craig ironically went on to take over from Brosnan as the iconic English spy in 2006’sCasino Royale. He has now starred as James Bond in a total of four movies, in the eponymous film series, with a fifth set to be released later this year. After a number of delays brought aboutdue to the Covid-19 Pandemic, Bond fans can now expect to see the latest movie, and 25th in the James Bond series, entitledNo Time to Die, hitting theaters on July 18, 2025. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film will feature an all star cast alongside Craig including Rami Malek, Naomie Harris, Christoph Waltz and Ralph Fiennes among others.
Fortunately, things haven’t turned out too bad for Mark Strong either. After a number of appearances in well received movies includingKick Ass(2010),Zero Dark Thirty(2012) and theImitation Game(2014), Strong appeared in the box office smash hitKingsman: The Secret Service asMerlin, a role he later reprised in the 2016 sequelKingsman: The Golden Circle. You can currently catch Mark Strong as John, the Baroness' valet and loyal accomplice,in Disney’s101 Dalmatianslive action prequel,Cruella,which was released last week on May 28 simultaneously in theaters and on Disney Plus with Premiere Access.
Cruella, which also stars Emma Stone as Cruella and Emma Thompson as the Baroness, tells the story of how a young woman named Estella embraces her wicked side to become the villainous and revenge-bent Cruella de Vil.This news comes courtesy of Sky One’sThere’s Something About Moviesvia The Hollywood Reporter.
