Sam Mendes Sam Mendes Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is an English stage and film director best known for directing the drama film "American Beauty" (1999), which earned him the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the crime film "Road to Perdition" (2002), and the "James Bond" films "Skyfall" (2012) and "Spectre" (2015). He also is known for dark re-inventions of the stage musicals "Cabaret" (1994), "Oliver!" (1994), "Company" (1995), and "" (2003). He directed an original West End stage musical for the first time with "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2013). In 2000 Mendes was appointed
James Bond filmography earlier portrayed him. The "Daily Mirror" ran a front-page news story critical of Craig, with the headline, "The Name's Bland – James Bland". Craig first played Bond in the 2006 film "Casino Royale", an adaptation of Fleming's novel of the same name and a reboot of the Eon series, which saw Bond earn his 00 status. Despite the negative press on his appointment, Craig was widely praised by critics and former Bonds after the release of "Casino Royale", believing him to have been the first actor to truly nail Fleming's character in the book: Todd McCarthy, reviewing the film for