The 25-year-old will play femme fatale Vesper Lynd in the movie, which will also see Daniel Craig's first performance as the suave secret agent. Producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said: "After an extensive search we found the perfect actress." Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen will play Bond's nemesis, Le Chiffre. Work on the movie is already under way in Prague.

Syriana star Jeffrey Wright will play CIA agent Felix Leiter. Green, 25, made her film debut in 2003 in The Dreamers, about a French brother and sister who befriend a young American during the Paris student riots of 1968. Last year she starred in Ridley Scott's historical drama Kingdom of Heaven. "She brings to the complex role of Vesper an exciting combination of enigmatic and seductive beauty," said Wilson and Broccoli. Casino Royale, directed by Martin Campbell, is based on the 1953 novel by Ian Fleming which introduced James Bond.