Henry Cavill Was Damn Close To Playing James Bond In "Casino Royale," And Director Martin Campbell Even Preferred His Audition Over Daniel Craig's
"Casino Royale" is one of the best movies ever. I will die on that hill. It's one of those movies that's so fucking good that it almost ruined other James Bond movies for me. Sure, there are other James Bond movies that I like and even other Daniel Craig James Bond movies that I enjoy. I think "Skyfall" is a pretty good time, but nothing touches "Casino Royale." It's one of the best action movies ever made, and it completely reinvented the character of James Bond and brought him into the 21st century. A big reason for that was Daniel Craig's performance. Other men who played James Bond are movie stars, but Craig is a legitimately great actor. He brought a cold-blooded energy to Bond that we hadn't seen before. He was the first James Bond who genuinely seemed capable of killing somebody, yet we almost never saw it. 
Apparently, Martin Campbell, who is responsible for reinvigorating the Bond franchise twice (he directed 1995's "Goldeneye" as well), preferred Henry Cavill's audition to Daniel Craig's when they both tried out for "Casino Royale" but came to the conclusion that he was just too young for the role. Cavill would've been 23 by the time Casino Royale was released in 2006, whereas Daniel Craig was almost 40. "Casino Royale" was essentially James Bond's origin story, so casting a younger actor would've made sense, but 23 would've been pretty young for a first-time James Bond.
These potentially alternate versions of movie history are always fascinating. What would've happened if Will Smith had taken the role of Neo in "The Matrix?" There was a lot of controversy surrounding Daniel Craig's original casting as Bond. A lot of people were not happy with it. Henry Cavill is a unique actor because the guy built like a fucking brick house. There's no fake toughness to him. Physically, I doubt any actor will ever come close to looking more like Superman than he did. I've seen the guy in interviews. He has genuine charisma, but I've never really seen him give a great performance as an actor. He looked like Superman, but he rarely ever acted like Superman. I've always found that he lacked charisma, which is why they decided to cast Daniel Craig. Daniel Craig, in "Casino Royale," is on the Mount Rushmore of the coolest performances ever. 
I'll credit Henry Cavill for one thing: the guy was resilient. It seems like he was attached to many different projects in the early 2000s but never popped off until he was cast as Superman. Then again, Craig had a very similar journey until he was cast as Bond. I do understand why Campbell saw something in Cavill during the audition process. He looks more like your stereotypical Bond. What made Craig such a perfect choice was that, in a lot of ways, he went against type. The early 2000s gave us "Batman Begins" and "Casino Royale," two franchise reboots that gave us a more grounded version of their protagonists. There is an alternate reality out there in which Cavill would've been totally serviceable as a more fantastical version of Bond, but I can't imagine anyone else pulling off that dark, grounded realism that Craig did, especially in "Casino Royale."
