His name is Craig, Daniel Craig. The English actor was named as the next James Bond on Friday, ending months of speculation over who would take over from Pierce Brosnan on Her Majesty's secret service.
In typically flamboyant 007 style, the 37-year-old swept up the River Thames on a power launch to a news conference, escorted by Royal Marines boats.
The first blond Bond wore a blue suit and red tie and posed for photographers in the shadow of Tower Bridge.
But in exchanges with reporters he got a taste of the downside of the superstardom which landing the role will bring, dodging personal questions about supermodel Kate Moss and actress Sienna Miller with both of whom he has been linked.
Some of his comments were decidedly un-Bond. "I'd like to thank the Royal Marines for bringing me in like that, and scaring the shit out of me," the actor joked.
Craig was hot favourite in the run-up to Friday's announcement, and his appointment to star in the next Bond film "Casino Royale" was all but confirmed when his mother let the secret slip to a regional newspaper earlier in the day.
While little known in the United States, Craig will be more familiar to British audiences after appearing in the gangster caper "Layer Cake". He also played alongside Paul Newman in "Road to Perdition" and Gwyneth Paltrow in "Sylvia".
Recalling the moment on Monday when he was finally confirmed as the sixth James Bond, he told Reuters:
"I was shopping and I dropped what I was carrying. I went straight to the alcohol section and got myself a bottle of vodka, a bottle of vermouth and went back and made myself a Martini ... or two."
Martin Campbell will direct Casino, due for release in late 2006, which takes viewers back to the beginning of the super spy's career.
"I certainly think it will be a little bit darker (than previous films) more character, less gadgets," the director said of Casino, which is expected to cost at least $100 million.
Craig promised to bring something new to a role immortalised by earlier incarnations Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Brosnan.
"It's not a question of redefining, but a question of taking it somewhere maybe where it's never gone before."
He said he had spoken to Irishman Brosnan, who has described the decision by Bond film makers to drop him as a "body blow".
According to franchise producer Michael Wilson, Craig was chosen from a field of more than 200 potential 007s, and the decision took about two years to make.
During that time dozens of actors were linked with the part, including Britons Clive Owen and Jude Law, Australia's Hugh Jackman and Croatia's Goran Visnjic.
For the filmmakers, there is plenty at stake.
Not only is the character a national institution in Britain, but he is also one of history's most profitable film franchises.
The 20 official Bond films have netted nearly $4 billion in global ticket sales, of which Brosnan's four films grossed around $1.5 billion, industry figures show.
Media have reported that Sony Pictures Entertainment, Hollywood backers of the new film along with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc, were keen to keep Brosnan, mindful of his box office clout.
But Web sites devoted to all things Bond say producer Barbara Broccoli wanted fresh blood, with the plot of Casino returning to the start of the spy's career and therefore requiring a younger actor.