Celebrity interview: Daniel Craig bulks up to play heavyweight Swedish hack

Before Bond makes his return next year, Daniel Craig stars as a journalist in the dark thriller The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which is released in cinemas on Monday, December 26. The actor talks to Susan Griffin about working with the uncompromising taskmaster David Fincher, finding the need to fatten up for the role a chore and returning as 007.

Daniel Craig has a reputation for being rather serious, a little sour even, but not today.

Today, the craggily handsome actor who brought new life to the James Bond franchise in 2006’s Casino Royale, is looking relaxed and smiling widely. But then, 2011 has been a good year for the 43-year-old.

He married the actress Rachel Weisz, lived out a childhood dream of donning spurs for the sci-fi western Cowboys And Aliens alongside Harrison Ford, and could finally confirm the news that millions were waiting to hear - that he’s returning as 007 in the 23rd Bond movie Skyfall.

And this month sees him star in the hugely anticipated English-speaking adaptation of The Girl With Dragon Tattoo, a dark and violent thriller dubbed ‘the feel-bad movie of Christmas’.

It’s the first of the series, which includes The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, written by Stieg Larsson, a former journalist-turned-author who died before he could see his work become a worldwide success. So far, 65 million copies have been sold across the globe.

“Someone gave me a copy of the book on holiday and I read it in two days,” says Craig, who plays Mikael Blomkvist, the Swedish journalist hired by retired tycoon Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to investigate the decades old disappearance of his niece Harriet.

From the start, Craig had an affinity for Blomkvist.

“I like his attitude. He’s fighting the good fight, trying to uncover corruption and to be an influential journalist.”

There was one problem though. The actor was in the best shape of his life when he was cast, which wasn’t suitable for a journalist who spends much of his time sitting at a desk, and he had to bulk up for the role.

Given he’s currently shooting Skyfall, he’s back in tip-top condition.

“I’m lucky enough to be given the chance to do a third Bond and it’s my intention to make the best Bond movie; Bond with a capital B,” says Craig.

For a while, it was looking unlikely he’d get the chance to play 007 again following 2008’s Quantum Of Solace.

The franchise had been put on hold amid financial troubles, with the film company MGM filing for bankruptcy protection last November. Thankfully, a rescue deal and restructuring plan has meant Bond survives another day.

“Strangely, it wasn’t frustrating because there was nothing I could do,” Craig explains. “It was a financial issue and I just had to let [the producers] get on with it.

“I was fortunate enough to go off and do some other projects, so I kept myself busy.”

Born in Cheshire and raised in Liverpool, the actor was only six when he started appearing in school plays. By the age of 16 he’d moved to London as part of the National Youth Theatre before continuing his training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

He made his film debut in 1992’s The Power Of One, the same year he married Scottish actress Fiona Loudon. Their marriage only lasted two years but they have a daughter, Ella, now 19.

It was 2004’s gangster movie Layer Cake that really got him noticed after years of supporting roles, and in October 2005, he was announced as the successor to Pierce Brosnan’s Bond.

Die-hard fans were unable to envision a blonde-haired, blue-eyed 007 and Craig himself initially walked away from the offer.

“I couldn’t see myself doing it at first,” he admits. “I genuinely thought they were having a giggle.”

But he soon settled into the role and proved the naysayers wrong by bringing a dramatic depth to the character.

“There’s always going to be somebody who says, ‘That’s not Bond, this is Bond’, but I’ve made him my own and feel very comfortable and secure about that.”

A notoriously private man, he admits he had to think long and hard about the effect the role would have on his personal life.

“When it came down to it, I decided to embrace the whole thing. There’s no point doing a Bond movie and hiding away for six months,” he says.

“It’s why he’s grateful he managed to keep his marriage to Weisz under wraps in the summer.

“It’s not about being afraid to be public with your emotions, or about who you are and what you stand for. But if you sell it, you can’t buy your privacy back.”

You wonder then if he enjoyed depicting the ‘enemy’ in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

“The truth of it is that journalism is an incredibly important part of a democratic society. Some of my heroes are journalists,” says Craig.

“Obviously journalism sometimes has a negative effect on my world, but I understand why it’s there.”

Extra time - Behind the scenes

:: Daniel Craig decided early on not to use a pronounced Swedish accent as he and David Fincher thought it would prove distracting.

:: As part of intensive auditions, Rooney Mara was asked to do everything from recite Swedish poetry to pose with motorcycles.

:: Mara cut her long hair, got a nipple piercing and bleached her eyebrows as part of her physical transformation.

:: To keep the intensity pronounced, Mara and Yorick van Wageningen, who plays her sociopath legal guardian, agreed to have no contact outside of their scenes.

:: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is released in cinemas on Monday, December 26