Movies - TV
Mads Mikkelsen's Casino Royale Casting All Came Down To Location
By MATT RAINIS
Daniel Craig had big shoes to fill when he first took the role of James Bond in “Casino Royale,” needing to live up to other legends who played the part like Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. Luckily, Craig would have a worthy opponent in Le Chiffre, with his actor Mads Mikkelsen bringing a presence and suavity to the villain that rivaled Craig’s Bond.
The two actors were vital to the success of “Casino Royale,” and it’s difficult to imagine anyone other than Mikkelsen as the antagonist. But Debbie McWilliams, the casting director, revealed that the actor wasn’t the studio’s first choice, and it was a coincidence Mikkelsen got the part as he happened to be in Prague at the right time.
After being unable to get who they wanted, McWilliams explained, “Once our French actor was not going to be cast, we were in Prague and by pure chance so was Mads Mikkelsen and so I grabbed him and got him in.” Despite his last-minute casting, Mikkelsen gave a fantastic performance, bringing an energy to the part that made him
seem like an equal to Bond.