Daniel Craig

1968-present

Latest News: Daniel Craig Stars in Wake Up Dead Man

Golden Globe-nominated actor Daniel Craig reprises his iconic role as world-class detective Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man, the third installment of the Knives Out mystery franchise. Named after a U2 song in which Bono talks to Jesus, the film sees Benoit team up with a young priest (Josh O'Connor) to solve a seemingly impossible crime at a small-town Catholic church.

In an interview with Deadline in October, Craig revealed that Wake Up Dead Man is noticeably “different” than Knives Out (2019) and Glass Onion (2022), though his character has evolved “very little” over the course of the trilogy. “There’s a darker theme in it but it’s still as funny as the last two,” he said.

At the heart of the mystery is the murder of a charismatic monsignor, played by Josh Brolin, who was somehow killed in the middle of mass. As Benoit investigates the confusing case, he simultaneously uncovers the church's dark and complicated history.

Wake Up Dead Man arrives in theaters November 26 and will be available to stream on Netflix starting December 12.

Daniel Craig is a British actor who is best known for his portrayal of James Bond in five installments of the spy franchise. Craig pursued acting at an early age, leaving school at age 16 to join London's National Youth Theatre. Following his big screen debut in 1992's The Power of One, the actor featured in the BAFTA-winning BBC miniseries Our Friends in the North and went on to roles in films like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Road to Perdition. Craig also worked with director Steven Spielberg on Munich and in 2006 was seen as James Bond in Casino Royale, reinvigorating the franchise. He returned as Bond for the blockbusters Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre, while starring in other major features like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Logan Lucky.

FULL NAME: Daniel Wroughton Craig
BORN: March 2, 1968
BIRTHPLACE: Chester, Cheshire, England
SPOUSES: Fiona Loudon (1992-1994) and Rachel Weisz (2011-present)
CHILDREN: Ella and Grace
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Pisces

Daniel Wroughton Craig was born on March 2, 1968, in Chester, Cheshire England. His mother, Carol Olivia Craig, was an art teacher, and his father, Timothy Craig, worked as a midshipman in the Merchant Navy and as a steel erector before becoming a pub landlord. After their divorce in 1972, Craig moved to Liverpool with his mother and older sister, Lea. It was there that he first felt drawn to acting. “Mum took my sister and me to the theater all the time. I kind of fell in love with the idea of acting because she knew actors,” he recalled to Interview magazine in July 2011. “I liked the idea of it—you know, shouting a lot and dressing up and all that.” Craig began acting at an early age, making his stage debut in the musical Oliver! at Frodsham Primary School at just 6 years old.

Throughout his childhood, he continued to star in school productions and even played rugby for Hilbre High School and Hoylake RFC. In 1984, the young actor moved to London at age 16 to join the National Youth Theatre, where he appeared in William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. Four years later, he was accepted into the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. By the time Craig graduated in 1991, he had already been cast in his film debut The Power of One, a 1950s drama set in South Africa, which came out the following year. He soon returned to the stage in a 1993 production of Angels in America at the Royal National Theatre.

Our Friends in the North and Love Is the Devil

After co-starring with Kate Winslet is the 1995 Disney movie A Kid in King Arthur's Court, Craig's career received a substantial boost when he landed his breakout role in the 1996 BBC miniseries Our Friends in the North. The drama enjoyed great critical reception and won several major awards in the year following its broadcast, including two British Academy Television Awards.

Another important role came in 1998 with the John Maybury film Love Is the Devil, a biopic about the artist Francis Bacon, played by Derek Jacobi. Craig co-starred as Bacon's lover George Dyer, a small-time thief. “It was the first film that I did that ‘made me,’” Craig later told Interview magazine. “I always wanted to make movies. When I met John Maybury, I knew he was the sort of person I wanted to be involved with because he was genuinely crazy and wonderful.”

That same year, he had a small role in the historical drama Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Road to Perdition

In 2001, Craig made his first big splash in Hollywood as the romantic interest to Angelina Jolie's character in the action flick Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, based on the popular video game. Although the film was panned by movie critics, it was a box office hit, becoming the second highest-grossing live-action video game adaptation to date, adjusted for inflation.

Craig next gave an impressive performance in 2002's Road to Perdition, adapted from the popular graphic novel of the same name. Craig played Connor Rooney, the murderous son of a mob boss (Paul Newman). The actor's standout performance was lauded by critics and fans alike. He then demonstrated his range when he portrayed poet Ted Hughes in the drama Sylvia (2003), which also starred Gwyneth Paltrow. The film explored the life of Hughes' wife, poet Sylvia Plath, and the couple's troubled relationship.

Layer Cake and Munich

Craig made his debut as a leading man in the 2005 crime drama Layer Cake, as an unnamed character—called XXXX in the credits—who seeks to retire from his criminal enterprise. That same year, the actor got a chance to work with famed director Steven Spielberg in the drama Munich (2005), playing an Israeli agent working on a team charged with tracking down those responsible for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games.

James Bond Franchise

Daniel Craig as James Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale.

Around this time, rumors had begun to swirl about Craig becoming the next actor to play the role of legendary spy James Bond. Fans used to previous Bonds played by the likes of Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan objected to having Craig take on the part, arguing that he was too blond and too old. Film critics also believed that, for a serious stage-trained actor, playing Bond would be an ill-advised move. But Craig believed it was a great opportunity and agreed to sign a five-film contract.

“When I accepted the job to work on Bond, I genuinely did it to change my life. I knew that it would flip everything on its head. ... I've never made movies for money—I've always made them because I truly wanted to do them,” he explained to Interview. Proving the skeptics wrong, Craig reinvigorated the long-running franchise with his modern take on the super spy in 2006's Casino Royale. The film was a hit at the box office, earning almost $600 million worldwide. For his performance, he received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actor in 2007. Craig returned as 007 in the next installment, 2008's Quantum of Solace, a hit that was more modest in terms of its critical reception and box-office performance.

Daniel Craig at the German premiere of Spectre in 2015.

But 2012 saw the return of Bond in a major way with Skyfall—a Sam Mendes-helmed enterprise co-starring Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes and Judi Dench as M, a character who comes under intense intra-agency attack. The lauded project was a box-office phenomenon, making more than $1.1 billion internationally. It remains the highest-grossing Bond film to date. Craig's next Bond adventure, Spectre, was released in 2015. In the UK, Spectre set the record for being the country's highest grossing film within seven days of release; the previous record holder was Skyfall.

Following an extensive wait, with delays resulting from the departure of original director Danny Boyle and Craig's desire to be with his wife and newborn daughter, the 25th installment of the Bond franchise, No Time to Die, arrived in 2021. It is the final film with Craig at the helm. The actor told the Los Angeles Times in November 2022 that it was his idea to kill off his character so that both he and the franchise could begin anew. “I don't want to go back. I suppose I should be so lucky if they were to ask me back, but the fact is I need to move on from it,” he said. “The sacrifice that he makes in the movie was for love, and there's no greater sacrifice. So it seemed like a good thing to end on.”

The Invasion and Defiance

During Craig's tenure as James Bond, he continued pursuing other film projects, including a co-starring role in the 2007 science-fiction thriller The Invasion, loosely based on the 1978 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. In the film, Craig played a research scientist who helps psychiatrist Carrol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) unearth an alien conspiracy. Craig appeared with Kidman again in the 2007 fantasy film The Golden Compass.

In 2008, Craig starred in Flashbacks of a Fool, a small indie drama directed by friend Baillie Walsh, as a middle-aged actor at the decline of his career. That same year, he joined Liev Schrieber and Jamie Bell in the Holocaust-based Defiance, the three playing Jewish brothers who fight back against the Nazis.

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo and Cowboys & Aliens

Back on the big screen, Craig stared with Rooney Mara in 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a David Fincher adaptation of the Swedish film based on Stieg Larsson's bestselling novel. Despite receiving critical acclaim, the movie flopped at the box office. That same year, Craig lent his voice to Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin, based on the popular comic books, and starred alongside Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde in the space western Cowboys & Aliens.

He also appeared in the 2011 psychological thriller Dream House with his future wife Rachel Weisz. In 2017, Craig surfaced in the thriller Logan Lucky, as safecracker Joe Bang, and co-starred with Halle Berry in Kings, a drama set around the time of the 1992 L.A. riots.

Knives Out Movies

Daniel Craig with the cast of Knives Out in 2019.

As his tenure as Bond neared its conclusion, the actor seized the opportunity to showcase his comedic chops in the Rian Johnson's 2019 whodunit Knives Out with Ana de Armas and Jamie Lee Curtis. Portraying Detective Benoit Blanc, billed as the world's greatest private investigator, Craig won audiences over with his eccentric performance and distinctive Southern accent. According to Johnson, the actor almost missed out on the role. Craig was Johnson's first choice for Benoit but was originally too busy with the Bond franchise. It was only because of a filming delay for No Time to Die that he was able to take on the now iconic persona.

In 2022, Craig reprised his role to solve another high-profile murder in the standalone sequel Glass Onion, co-starring Janelle Monáe, Kate Hudson, Edward Norton, and Dave Bautista. Both films earned him Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy in 2020 and 2023. Craig returns for the franchise's third installment, Wake Up Dead Man, in November 2025, which sees Benoit team up with a young priest (Josh O'Connor) to solve the murder of a charismatic monsignor, played by Josh Brolin. The movie also stars Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, and Kerry Washington.

Queer

Amid filming the Knives Out movies, Craig also starred in the 2024 romantic drama Queer, playing an American expat in 1950s Mexico City who becomes infatuated with a younger man (Drew Starkey). His performance earned him another Golden Globe nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Drama, in 2025. “Drew [Starkey] and I had to discover this relationship very quickly, as you always have to do on movie,” the actor told The National Board of Review in January 2025. “So from day one of rehearsals, we were sort of rolling around on the floor doing interpretive dance! It's a great icebreaker.”

Craig is set to star in the 2026 film Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, based on The Chronicles of Narnia book series by C.S. Lewis.

Returning to the stage in 2009, Craig made his Broadway debut in A Steady Rain, alongside Hugh Jackman. He later joined his wife, Rachel Weisz, for a 2013 adaptation of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, before earning praise in 2016 for his portrayal of the villainous Iago in a contemporary setting of Othello. In 2022, Craig starred as the titular character in a Broadway production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, alongside Ruth Negga as Lady MacBeth.

Daniel Craig with wife Rachel Weisz at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards.

Daniel Craig is married to British actor Rachel Weisz, with whom he shares one daughter. While the couple first met as up-and-coming actors in the 1990s, they didn't become romantically involved until 2010, when they reconnected on the set of 2011's Dream House. Preferring to keep their relationship private, they wed in a secret ceremony in New York in June 2011 with only four guests in attendance.

“We got away with it. We did it privately,” Craig said of the wedding to British GQ in March 2012. “And I've got a lot of people to thank for that.” His marriage to Weisz made him a step-father to her son Henry, from her previous relationship with Darren Aronofsky. The pair later welcomed their daughter, Grace, in September 2018.

Craig was previously married to Scottish actor Fiona Loudon, whom he met while working London's theater scene. Their daughter, Ella, was born in 1992—the same year they got hitched. Craig and Loudon divorced just two years later. Prior to this, he dated producer Satsuki Mitchell for several years and was romantically linked to actor Sienna Miller and model Kate Moss.

As of November 2025, Craig has an estimated net worth of $160 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. He was the highest-paid actor in 2021 thanks to his $100 million deal to star in two Knives Out sequels. For all five James Bond movies, Craig earned a grand sum of just over $85 million.

• I always wanted to be an actor. I had the arrogance to believe I couldn't be anything else.
• Method actors suggest that you do sense memory exercises every time you do a scene. I use every method I can. Whatever works, I'll use.
  
• I think there's a lot to be said for keeping your own counsel. 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 off it's gone. You can't buy it back—you can't buy your privacy back.
  
• When I accepted the job to work on Bond, I genuinely did it to change my life. I knew that it would flip everything on its head. ... I've never made movies for money—I've always made them because I truly wanted to do them.
  
• I go through life thinking it's all going to end tomorrow.
  
• I didn't get into this business to become famous.
  

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