Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. (Reuters)

Nassau, Bahamas, March 10 (Reuters): Is the next James Bond too blond for Her Majesty’s Secret Service? Stricken by heat rash? Licensed to kill but not licensed to drive the famous stick-shift Aston Martin sports car?

Hounded by mounting criticism ? even a threatened boycott ? for picking a blond actor to play the part of the world’s most famous dark-haired spy, the makers of the next James Bond movie, Casino Royale, this week assured 007 fans that ruggedly handsome Englishman Daniel Craig will be everything they have come to expect, and perhaps more.

Yes, Craig did lose or chip a tooth during filming in Prague, but it did not stop production, the actor told reporters. No, he did not suffer from excruciating heat rash in the Bahamas. And, of course, an Englishman is perfectly capable of driving a manual gear car.

“You go mad if you believe any of it (the criticism),” Craig, 38, told reporters on Wednesday after distributor Sony Pictures Entertainment Co. and producers EON Productions invited journalists to the Bahamas movie set to counter some of the Internet and newspaper nattering.

“You can’t believe the good stuff. You can’t believe the bad stuff. You kind of just take it in. But I’m focused on making this film.”

Craig, whose character famously likes his vodka martini shaken, not stirred, acknowledged the criticism had heightened the pressure on him.

“I’ve been trying to give 110 per cent from the beginning and maybe after that (the criticism), I was trying to give 115 per cent,” he said.

“But I mean, I’m giving everything I can.”

Casino Royale goes back to Bond’s roots, when he makes his first two assassinations and earns the 007 status that gives him a license to kill. Published in 1953, it was the first book in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series.

It was the need for a fresh start and a younger face that made the film makers dump Pierce Brosnan, the most successful 007 to date, said producer Barbara Broccoli.