Queer star Daniel Craig has been named the recipient of Britain’s leading film critic’s highest honor, the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film.
The James Bond actor will receive an award at the 45th London Critics Circle Film Awards on February 2nd at the Mayfair Hotel in London. Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” and Sean Baker’s “Anora” lead the nominees.
Upon receiving the news of the award, Craig said: “This is a huge honour, and I am deeply grateful to the London Society of Film Critics.”
“As critics, we were already fans of Daniel Craig even before he became James Bond because of the adventurous roles he took on,” said Rich Klein, chairman of the film division of the Critics Association. We paid homage to his roles in The Mother (2003) and Enduring Love (2004), but of course we paid tribute to his role in 007. For decades, he has consistently made bold choices and pushed boundaries that often limit other top stars. We nominated him in the ‘Queer’ category this year because we love the Knives Out movies, and we look forward to celebrating his career at the ceremony.”
Before starring as 007, Craig appeared in films such as John Mayberry’s 2002’s Love Is the Devil: A Study in the Portrait of Francis Bacon and Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition. Her performance in the film was highly praised by critics, and in the same year she starred in Steven Spielberg’s Munich.
In 2006, Craig took on the iconic role of the legendary James Bond in the critically acclaimed Casino Royale. He went on to play the MI6 agent in four films: 2008’s Quantum of Solace, 2012’s Skyfall, and 2015’s Spectre. It reached its climax with the release of “To Die”.
In recent years, Craig has expanded into roles such as Detective Benoît Blanc in Rian Johnson’s blockbuster mystery Knives Out (2019), and has appeared in roles such as The Glass Onion and the upcoming Wake Up. He also reprized the role in “Deadman”.
Last year, London critics awarded Jeffrey Wright the Dilys Powell Award. Other recent winners include Michelle Yeoh, Sandy Powell, Sally Potter, Pedro Almodovar and Kate Winslet.
