Mark Strong blew a James Bond villain audition thanks to Daniel Craig (and alcohol)
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It seems Mark Strong was foiled in his attempt to become a foe for James Bond... by James Bond.
During an appearance on the British panel show There's Something About Movies, the Cruella star recalled a failed audition for a Bond villain role during the "Pierce Brosnan era."
"I went up for a villain in a Bond movie... and to celebrate, I went out for a drink and I got pissed, I overdid it," Strong said. "The next day I was severely hungover," but decided to go ahead with the audition anyway.
Dave J Hogan/Getty Images; Stephen Vaughan/Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Mark Strong; Daniel Craig as James Bond
"I started, and then I just forgot my lines, couldn't remember what they were," he continued. "I was sweating, it was a terrible experience, but I really learned from it. But the irony was, the guy I was out the night before getting pissed with was Daniel Craig. So I blame him!"
Craig, of course, later became Brosnan's successor as 007, and has played Bond in five films, including the still-upcoming No Time to Die (in which Rami Malek plays the villain). The actor also has a long history with Strong; the two once lived together in London, and Craig is godfather to Strong's son.
"It would have been nice to act together [in No Time to Die] as it's Daniel's last Bond," Strong told the Daily Mail in 2019. "We'd have had great fun, but I think maybe it's better that we're not doing it because people might not accept it as a genuine thing within the Bond movie, knowing that we're pals."
No Time to Die is currently slated for release on Oct. 8 in the U.S. and Sept. 30 in the U.K.
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