When Daniel Craig appeared at an event in New York this week, the guests were amazed: the actor showed up with unusually long hair and narrow wire-rimmed glasses. He posed for the photographers against a dark background with glowing dots. If the play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” hadn’t already been on Broadway, one would have thought that Craig had slipped into the role of the famous wizard.
His look was also commented on on “X”, formerly Twitter. Some saw him as a strict literature professor at an elite university, others joked that he looked like a bank employee who was rejecting a mortgage application for the second time with a stern look. In no time, Craig became a meme. Since he had been invited to a watch event that same evening, some even assumed that with the glasses he was imitating the tinkerer who was very familiar with hands and gears.
The fact that Craig’s new look is causing so much attention is of course also because the actor was and is attached to his iconic film role. Since 2006 and for years he had played James Bond and cultivated the typical gentleman look, on the big screen, on the red carpet and in private. His suits were slim-fitting and came from the high-end tailors of London’s Savile Row. He combined them with vests and ties and always wore his hair very short. A style that was founded on itself and fit so perfectly that any criticism seemed to roll off like Teflon. Craig was Bond, indistinguishable, inseparable, the role as a second skin and eternal costume. The only accessory Craig treated himself to, like all the other Bond actors before him, was a watch. Since “Goldeneye” in 1995, all James Bond mimes have worn a model from the Swiss brand Omega.
Craig played the secret agent for 15 years, and in 2021 he said goodbye to the film role and the style that was characteristic of this role with “No Time to Die”. The following summer he appeared at a gala with a blonde quiff and gold-yellow sunglasses, which made him look like a seventies gigolo.
In 2022, the advertising film for the vodka brand Belvedere, in which Craig starred, caused a stir. In the spot, directed by Oscar winner Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”), he plays a movie star fleeing from the crowd that idolizes him. A role as catharsis, tailor-made for him. Instead of wearing elegant clothes, Craig was seen strolling through Paris in a leather jacket and sunglasses, dancing through a hotel suite in a muscle shirt, grinning into the camera with gold teeth.
The nickel-plated glasses are now just another indication of his image change. Next step on the long path to yourself – or what others think you are. Craig is probably fine with being compared to a banker, tinkerer or magician. The main thing is that you don’t see him as secret agent James Bond forever. His changed look seems like a message to filmmakers everywhere: “My name is Craig, Daniel Craig.” But sorry, that was of course another 007 reference.
