Sam Mendes Recalls Daniel Craig’s ‘Worst Audition Ever’

Director Sam Mendes once revealed that Daniel Craig gave him the “worst audition” he had ever seen, but it didn’t stop him from casting the actor. Mendes shared the story while speaking on BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life in December 2022 with host John Wilson.

Mendes explained that during the casting for Road to Perdition, he was looking for someone to play Paul Newman’s son.

The studio had already spent heavily on stars like Tom Hanks, Newman, and Jude Law, so they asked Mendes to find a cheaper fourth actor. That search eventually led him to Craig.

When Craig came in to read, Mendes admitted it was a disaster. “I was struck a) by his kinetic energy – like a coiled spring, b) by his amazing blue eyes, and c) by the fact he did probably the worst audition I’ve ever seen any actor give. He doesn’t like reading, you know, he was all over the shop,” Mendes recalled. Still, Mendes felt Craig’s charisma made him the obvious choice.

At the time, Craig was still trying to break into Hollywood. He had starred in the BBC drama Our Friends in the North and appeared in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, but Road to Perdition was one of his first big roles.

Mendes said it was the TV series that first showed him Craig’s talent: “Our Friends in the North was obviously what I’d seen him in, and I thought he was amazing.”

Mendes explained why the audition went so badly. “Daniel, like a lot of actors, needs the environment, you know, he needs to feel what he’s relating to, just reading to someone in a room, reading to a director in a vacuum. I mean, auditions are terrible things anyway.”

Years later, their paths crossed again in New York. Mendes went to see Craig perform in a play alongside Hugh Jackman.

After the show, Mendes joined them backstage. Jackman invited him to a birthday party, and it was there that Craig jokingly suggested Mendes should direct the next Bond film. Mendes said, “He’d had a couple of drinks, and I said, ‘Oh, who’s gonna do the next Bond movie?’ and he went, ‘I don’t know, why don’t you do it?’ and I thought ‘Yeah’, and I just said to him, ‘Yeah, alright.’”

What began as a casual party conversation turned into something real. Mendes later met with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and eventually agreed to direct Skyfall and Spectre.

This story shows how even the “worst audition” can lead to major roles and long-lasting collaborations. My take is that Mendes trusted his instincts with Craig, and that decision helped shape not only Road to Perdition but also the Bond franchise years later. What do you think, was Mendes right to look past a bad audition? Share your thoughts in the comments.