Daniel Craig’s stylistic transformation from sharp 007 star to contemplative Cambridge University professor appears to be complete.
The “James Bond” actor, once coveted by women around the world for his gentle, devastatingly clean-cut portrayal of the British spy, has grown his hair long and adopted a scholarly, authoritative look in recent years as Netflix’s “Wake Up Deadman: Knives Out Mystery” opens in September.
After the actor sported a looser, softer hairstyle at the “Queer” press tour earlier this year, and a shaggy cut at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, fans began dissecting the drastic change.
“Daniel Craig looks like a hacker working for Hans Gruber,” one of the X’s said, referring to Loewe’s particularly stylish 2024 fashion campaign, in which Craig, 57, wore a choppy cut and a colorful pullover sweater.
“Andrew and Daniel Craig looked like the geography department last night,” another wrote in January about an introspective, grown-up photo of Craig Garfield and Andrew Garfield.
Another noted that he “looked dapper and mysterious with his long hair in ‘Wake Up Deadman: Knives Out Mystery.'”
“I love all Daniel Craigs, but especially the one with long hair,” said yet another.
“Daniel Craig looks great with long hair. Never go back to 007 hair, keep your hair long, daddy,” one person wrote, alongside an intensely intelligent photo of Craig taken at the Toronto International Film Festival in February.
Another called this romantic cut “a bold departure from the Bond look.”
Still, some have drawn comparisons between the actor and iconic ’90s newscaster Bill Bonds. Bill Bonds’ ruggedly handsome appearance and long blond hair bear an uncanny resemblance to the Bond actor.
Craig first began appearing as the clean-shaven, sharply stylish James Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale. He reprized the role four more times over the next few years, ending his role as the British spy in 2021’s No Time to Die.
The actor took over the role from Pierce Brosnan, who last played the role in 2002’s Die Another Day. At the time, Craig’s cutting-edge version of the on-screen hero was a far cry from Brosnan’s dreamy, long-haired Bond. Now, he seems to have accepted that look as his own.