Michael Fassbender, famous for playing the supervillain Magneto in X-Men movies, recently appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. During the conversation, Fassbender revealed how he ended up suggesting Daniel Craig’s name for the iconic James Bond role, despite auditioning for it himself.
During the podcast, Fassbender recalled auditioning for Casino Royale, admitting to never feeling like he was a serious contender. “I was never sure I was in the mix,” Fassbender said.
He continued, “But I remember going into that room and meeting with Barbara Broccoli and [Michael G.] Wilson, and I think I was like, ‘Daniel Craig is…’ I don’t know why I was promoting him. I should’ve been promoting myself.”
Michael Fassbender was one of several rising stars who auditioned for James Bond when the franchise was starting a new chapter after Pierce Brosnan. At the time, Henry Cavill also gave the audition, but producers felt he was too young to play the role.
Daniel Craig ultimately became the face of James Bond, starring in five films between 2006 and 2021. As for Fassbender, he admitted auditions were never his strong suit. He even recalled bombing his Mad Max: Fury Road audition by turning up an hour late to Warner Bros. “I arrived, and I was like, ‘I’m so sorry,’ and they were like, ‘Fine,’” he recalled.
But it only got worse. He described working with director George Miller’s acting coach as “excruciating.” Despite being classically trained, Fassbender felt the process was unnecessary. “I have my process—there’s an objective the character has, and activities I’m gonna play to get it,” he explained. “So I felt like you’re teaching granny how to suck eggs here. This guy really got on my nerves.”
Despite this, the Steve Jobs star had nothing but praise for Daniel Craig. “Obviously, Daniel did a fantastic job and went on to be, I think, the most successful Bond in history. But that was it really—there was never a conversation after that,” Fassbender said.
While Micheal Fassbender made it clear he is not in the running to replace Daniel Craig, he did have a few suggestions for who could take on the iconic role next. He named his Black Bag co-star Regé-Jean Page as a strong contender. “Regé, who’s in this movie, I think after people see his performance in this, he could be a frontrunner,” Fassbender said. He also backed Aaron Taylor-Johnson for the part. “I thought Aaron Taylor-Johnson was a really good call… He works out, and he’s also very good.”