Ewan McGregor not consider for role of 007 according to Casino Royale director Martin Campbell

Earlier this week both the Daily Mirror and The Sunday Times - Scotland ran stories stating that Casino Royale (2006) Director Martin Campbell originally wanted Ewan McGregor to don the tuxedo and portray 007 are untrue.

Sony Pictures have informed MI6 that Director Martin Campbell has never been interviewed by the newspaper The Daily Mirror, and said he "has never been aware that Ewan McGregor was offered the part."

The Daily Mirror
DANIEL Craig landed the James Bond role only after Ewan McGregor turned it down, says the director of new 007 movie Casino Royale.

Martin Campbell admitted Star Wars favourite Ewan was their first choice - but snubbed the offer because he feared becoming typecast.

Campbell said Ewan was approached early on in the hunt to replace Pierce Brosnan as 007. He added: "I think he got another job or decided he didn't want to do it."

Campbell also said he "wasn't totally convinced" that Craig would match up to previous Bonds. The admission is the latest in a series of setbacks for Craig, 38.

He was labelled "too soft" by fans following reports he is scared of heights and was injured filming his firstever fight scene. Craig was also humiliated by claims he could not cope with gears in Bond's famous Aston Martin and had to have an automatic.

McGregor said in an interview last year that playing Bond might have been fun, but admitted he would have been worried about the extent of the commitment.

He said. "With Bond, it's a long shoot and there's a massive amount of publicity." Casino Royale is released here on November 17.

Daily Mirror

The Sunday Times - Scotland

THE selection process to choose the new James Bond was so secretive that even Q — the fictional head of the British secret service — would have been proud.

Now its cover has been blown with the revelation that Ewan McGregor, the prolific Scottish actor, was the first choice of producers to replace Pierce Brosnan as 007.

The role eventually went to Daniel Craig, the English actor whose craggy, careworn features are believed by some traditionalists to clash with the character’s smooth image.

The Perthshire-born star of Trainspotting and Star Wars turned down the offer because he feared he would be typecast and was concerned about committing to another series of films following his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

In a blow to Craig, Martin Campbell, director of the latest Bond film Casino Royale, has admitted that he “wasn’t totally convinced” that the English actor would be a match for his predecessors, including Sir Sean Connery.

Campbell, who also directed GoldenEye and the Zorro movies, claims McGregor was approached early in the long search to replace Brosnan.

At the time it was rumoured that the actor had been given a screen test. However, he refused to be drawn. “I think he got another job or decided he didn’t want to do it,” Campbell said.

Instead, McGregor, 35, has chosen an eclectic mix of projects. While Craig was filming Casino Royale, McGregor was playing Norman Warne, the tragic suitor of Beatrix Potter in Miss Potter, a biopic of the children’s author starring Renée Zellweger.

McGregor is currently in New York filming The Tourist, a psychological thriller in which he plays an accountant who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation after being lured into a sex club.

Despite the Bond role being one of the most glamorous and lucrative in the film industry, insiders said they were not surprised that McGregor turned down the offer to play 007.

Even Connery, arguably the best-loved Bond, who endorsed McGregor as a future Bond, urged caution, describing the role as a “poison chalice”.

One film industry source, who asked not to be named, said: “I think he’s got a greater range than being stuck in that role, which he would be for quite some time.”

Though McGregor said in one interview last year that playing Bond might be “fun”, he said he would worry about the extent of the commitment.

“With Star Wars, we did a three-month shoot and a couple of weeks of pick-ups so it wasn’t an enormous involvement. But with Bond, I suppose it’s a much longer shoot and there’s a massive amount of publicity,” he said. “I would worry about not being able to do any other work.”

The deal with Craig, who starred in Layer Cake and The Jacket, was announced last October. It is understood that the multi-million-pound agreement is for three films.

The Sunday Times - Scotland