Daniel Craig has some serious moves. If you didn’t know before, you will now thanks to a new Belvedere Vodka ad. Directed by Taika Waititi and released on Nov. 9, the commercial involves an elaborate dance sequence that shows a different side of the James Bond actor.
Craig begins the commercial in black and white, looking classically glamorous on the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris. As he passes through paparazzi, enters a car, and emerges on the other side, however, he undergoes a complete transformation. The video is now in color, and Craig sports a black leather jacket and sunglasses he quickly flings off. That’s when the fun begins.
With all the confidence in the world, Craig struts across the lawn, dancing his way into the ultra-luxe Cheval Blanc hotel and two-stepping as you’ve never seen before. He swaggers backwards through the revolving doors, hip thrusting in the elevator, and snapping his fingers to the beat. (Fosse’s influence, perhaps? Just us?) After splashing through the psychedelic color-changing pool, Craig arrives at his ultimate destination: the liquor cabinet. “Finally,” he says as he takes a sip. Waititi himself also makes an appearance, being shown calling “cut” from behind the scenes. “Let’s go again . . . just be yourself,” he tells Craig, who smiles, revealing tooth gems of his initials.
While you might assume Craig was channeling his inner John Travolta to bust out these moves, you might be surprised to hear it was actually his nana who came to mind while filming. “When I did it, I thought of my nana. She was the voice in my head, saying, ‘Mutton dressed as lamb,'” he told The Sunday Times Culture Magazine. The actor also confirmed that his last word in the advert is reference to the end of his Bond reign: “When I read the script, I thought, ‘Hmm, really’? Then I thought, ‘Let’s go with it. I hope people get the gag’.”
While no one can take credit for the energy Craig brings to the set, if after watching you find yourself a massive admirer of Craig’s dancing, choreographer JaQuel Knight is the person to thank, according to People. Waititi’s partner, Rita Ora, also reportedly helped with the upbeat soundtrack as well as rapper Giggs.
“It’s just nice to do something where it’s like, ‘Oh, is this the real Daniel? Maybe this is a different version of Daniel than we’ve ever seen?'” Waititi told GQ in a Nov. 9 interview about the production of the ad. “He just was great and he wasn’t cynical about it, and he wasn’t reticent. He just leaned straight in.” Watch Craig “lean in” to the fullest extent above, and see him bust out moves we didn’t even know he had.