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Ian Fleming is said to have based the character of Le Chiffre in the novel Casino Royale on English occultist Aleister Crowley. Crowley was friendly with Fleming while serving with British intelligence during WWII. There has been speculation that Crowley was also the basis for Blofeld, possibly due to the physical resemblance between Crowley and some of the film depictions of Blofeld (in particular his shaven head). However, in the novels Blofeld is described as having a very different appearance. In a further occult connection, John Dee (mystic and advisor to Elizabeth I) used the code name "007" as a signature.
Daniel Craig initially rejected the part of James Bond, as he felt that the series had settled into a standard formula. He changed his mind when he read the finished script. Timothy Dalton had turned down For Your Eyes Only (1981) for the same reason, and, like Craig, ended up playing a different, more grounded interpretation of Bond in The Living Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill (1989).
In the shower scene, Vesper (Eva Green) was originally scripted to be wearing nothing but her underwear. Daniel Craig argued that Vesper would not have stopped to take her clothes off, and the scene was changed.
For Daniel Craig's now iconic scene where he rises out of the sea in a pair of Speedos, many of the crew were out of camera range in boats fending off the paparazzi.
To prepare for the role, Daniel Craig read all of Ian Fleming's novels and talked with Mossad and British Secret Service agents who had served as advisers on Munich (2005).
Tsai Chin: As Madame Wu, she is seen playing poker Le Chiffre's yacht and again at the card table at Casino Royale. She had appeared decades earlier in You Only Live Twice (1967) as Ling, the girl who helps set up Bond's "death" in the opening sequence. With a gap of thirty-nine years between the two films, she holds the record for the longest span between appearances in the franchise.
Richard Branson: The Virgin Airlines boss as a man at airport security. When British Airways showed this movie on their airline, they blurred out the tail showing the Virgin Atlantic logo, and cut Branson's cameo.
Diane Hartford: She featured as "Card Player #3" in the credits, and had the longest gap between appearances in James Bond movies. She had three lines playing a girl in the Kiss Kiss Club in Thunderball (1965), a gap of forty-one years.
Alessandra Ambrosio: The supermodel from Brazil is seen at the Ocean Club when Bond arrives in the Bahamas. She is credited as Tennis Girl #1.
Michael G. Wilson: Screenwriter and producer Wilson acted as poker consultant, and played the part of a corrupt Chief of Police. He's made an appearance, in one way or another, even if it's just a hand, in every movie since The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).