Daniel Craig Didn't Mean To—But He May Have Cost Mark Strong His Bond Role
Mark Strong has made a career out of playing villains who look like they could kill you with a stare — and probably will.
From Kick-Ass to Shazam! to Sunshine, the guy's got range, menace, and that voice that practically growls "I'm the bad guy." So it's wild to think he never got to play a James Bond villain.
Turns out, he almost did.
Back in 2021, Strong told a story on the British panel show There's Something About Movies about how he blew his Bond audition. It was for one of the Pierce Brosnan-era films (he didn't say which), and the night before, he went out drinking to celebrate... with none other than Daniel Craig. Yup — the guy who would eventually become Bond himself.
Strong showed up to the audition hungover, forgot his lines, and completely bombed it. No second chance, no villain role, just a really unfortunate "what if."
He later admitted he learned something from the experience, though he didn't spell it out. Safe to assume: "Don't get hammered before a career-defining audition" was the takeaway.
To be clear, this wasn't sabotage — Craig wasn't Bond yet, and probably didn't think he was derailing anything. Still, the irony is almost too good: Mark Strong torpedoes his Bond shot while partying with future 007.
The real shame? Strong would've crushed it. He's played gangsters (Revolver), madmen (Sunshine), intergalactic tyrants (Green Lantern), and corporate monsters (1917). He's worked with Guy Ritchie, Danny Boyle, Ridley Scott, and somehow even survived John Carter. He's the kind of actor who can be terrifying, classy, or both — basically a Bond villain in human form.
But even without that one credit, he's built a rock-solid career. While his old drinking buddy got strapped into five Bond films and a million press junkets, Strong stayed versatile and under the radar. And honestly? That might be the better deal.
Still — it's hard not to wonder what could've been if he'd just stuck to water that night.