Daniel Craig Once Shared That He Cast Javier Bardem in ‘Skyfall’ After Meeting Him at a Party

Javier Bardem joined the James Bond franchise by playing the cunning villain in Sam Mendes’ Skyfall. It was a part the actor didn’t have to really audition for, and one he received after a chance encounter with Craig.

Sam Mendes couldn’t remember his lines in ‘Skyfall’ after realizing he was in a James Bond film

Being in Skyfall was a huge deal for acclaimed actor Javier Bardem, who had been a longtime admirer of the franchise. But although he grew up with the Bond films, his fandom for the series wasn’t the reason he did the role.

“Yeah, I’m 43, so since I was 11 or 12, I think, I’ve seen them all. Yeah, in Spain it’s big. But again, whether you’re a fan or not isn’t the right reason to do something, I guess. It’s about having the material to bring something to it. Otherwise you’re doing it for the wrong reasons, in my opinion,” Bardem once said in an interview with Den of Geek.

When he found himself in the middle of shooting the film, however, he briefly became lost in the moment. So much so he flubbed his lines when he was acting alongside Judi Dench and Daniel Craig.

“And I looked at them both and forgot the lines. There was a silence and Sam said, ‘Cut, what’s wrong?’ And I said, ‘I’m sorry, man, I just realised I’m in a James Bond movie and M and James Bond are looking at me,'” Bardem recalled to The Guardian.

Daniel Craig cast Javier Bardem in ‘Skyfall’ after meeting him at a party

Before shooting Skyfall, Craig played a significant role in getting some of the film’s major players involved. The No Time to Die star ended up recruiting director Sam Mendes for the franchise after running into him at a party.

“I was literally at a party and Sam was there, and he doesn’t drink, so he was quite sober. I wasn’t that sober, but I was picking his brains about the next movie. I wanted to ask him, because I respect him as a director and I think he’s got lots of great ideas,” Craig once told Den of Geek. “As the conversation went on and on, and we talked about the things we loved about Bond movies, and I offered him the job – which wasn’t my job to do.”

A similar situation happened with Craig’s co-star Bardem. He saw his future Skyfall partner at a party and, being a fan of Bardem’s, approached him for the role.

“I was actor and casting director. I don’t know. It just sort of made sense. You can end up skirting around the issue, saying, ‘Ooh, wouldn’t it be nice to get so and so’, and I just thought I’d ask and see what he says,” Craig recalled.

Javier Bardem didn’t know Daniel Craig when he first met him

Bardem corroborated Craig’s claims of meeting him at a party. But unlike Craig, who already admired Bardem, Bardem was unfamiliar with the Bond actor. Still, the two clicked instantly when they met.

“It was years ago, we were at a private event, and he came to me, we were introduced to me, and he asked if I’d ever be interested in doing a James Bond movie with him and Sam. I said, well that sounds very cool, yeah,” Bardem said. “And it’s funny, because I didn’t know him. But the moment I shook his hand, I said, this guy’s awesome. You have that feeling of people, you know?”