<--- Is this what Daniel Craig, 40, looked like as a teenager?This young man to your left is Harry Eden, 18, who is playing the teen version of Daniel Craig in the new drama Flashbacks of a Fool. The film is about a famous actor whose past comes back to haunt him in some way (hence the title). Eden has a pretty strong resume already, with frequent TV and film work since he was ten years old. He's even won a couple of acting prizes, both of them for the film Pure which co-starred Keira Knightley. He doesn't have any sort of a profile in the states but you might have seen him as Nibs in the recent Peter Pan (2003) or in the classic role of Artful Dodger for Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist (2005).
One thing that will help Eden pull it off: We have little concept of a young Craig. The new Bond didn't get internationally well-known until he was in his 30s, kicked off largely by being the rough trade object of Francis Bacon's obsession in the art biopic Love is the Devil (1998) which I heartily recommend to all people who enjoy themselves some Daniel Craig ---and not just in the nude in the bathtub way. (The great Tilda Swinton is also in the movie if you need more incentive)
Will Eden one day be tortured by Geoffrey Rush, seduce a grandmother, cheat on Gwyneth Paltrow or be licensed to kill on her majesty's secret service? Will be grow up to be anything like one Daniel Craig? Stay tuned...
Harry at 15ish in Oliver (2005). Daniel at 27ish in Our Friends in the North (1996) I've always found the casting of actors as younger versions of famous stars to be an interesting if mostly frustrating exercize. Often it's hard to see it. Sometimes little kids just become the go to person for everyone. Remember that Dakota Fanning has already played Calista Flockhart Jr, Ellen DeGeneres Jr. and Reese Witherspoon Jr. [previous cheeky fun w' that here]
My favorite casting of a star as a kid is still probably Mayim Bialik as the young Bette Midler in Beaches, such a find!Here's the trailer to Flashbacks of a Fool. Notice that they totally know what they're selling here: it only takes 12 seconds before Daniel Craig gets naked.
No word yet on when the film is coming to the States but it opens next week in the UK.
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