Craig: fans don’t like me as new James Bond

“If I went onto the Internet and started looking at what some people were saying about me — which, sadly, I have done — it would drive me insane,” the British actor said in an interview in Entertainment Weekly magazine, on newsstands last Friday.

“They hate me. They don’t think I’m right for the role. It’s as simple as that. They’re passionate about it, which I understand, but I do wish they’d reserve judgment.” A group of James Bond fans have launched a website, www. craignotbond.com, to protest Craig replacing Pierce Brosnan in the 007 film franchise, and to boycott Casino Royale, slated for release November 17.

The fair-haired Craig, whose screen credits include roles in Munich and Layer Cake, was tapped last October to play the secret-agent icon.

While filming Casino Royale, the 38-year-old actor was uneasy about uttering those famous words, “The name is Bond, James Bond.”

“People kept asking, ‘Have you done the line yet?”’ Craig told the magazine.

“But honestly, I didn’t rehearse it at all. I didn’t practice it in the mirror every morning or anything like that.”