Daniel Craig Tried to Get out of His James Bond Franchise From the ‘Very Moment I Got Into It’
James Bond’s run on the big screen has come to a temporary end with Daniel Craig’s conclusion of the character. But at one point, being done with James Bond a bit earlier might have been a bit of a relief for the megastar.
Daniel Craig had no choice but to keep playing James Bond
Craig hasn’t always been eager about playing Bond. There have been times when a candid Craig expressed his frustrations with portraying the 007 agent. So much so Craig didn’t seem too thrilled about returning to the film series.
“Now? I’d rather … slash my wrists,” Craig once told The Guardian about doing another Bond film. “No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.”
He was also honest that, if he did return to the franchise, the paycheck would be his biggest motivator.
“I don’t know what the next step is. I’ve no idea. Not because I’m trying to be cagey. Who the f*** knows? At the moment, we’ve done it. I’m not in discussion with anybody about anything. If I did another Bond movie, it would only be for the money,” he added.
It wasn’t the only time Craig felt this way. Back in a 2012 interview the actor did with Rolling Stone, he confided that he’d already tried backing out of the series.
“I’ve been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it, but they won’t let me go, and I’ve agreed to do a couple more, but let’s see how this one does, because business is business and if the s*** goes down, I’ve got a contract that somebody will happily wipe their ass with,” Craig said.
Daniel Craig considered quitting James Bond after ‘Spectre’
Craig didn’t think he had another Bond movie after his fourth 007 movie Spectre. The Sam Mendes film was financially successful, although had less critical acclaim than its predecessor Skyfall. After doing the film, however, Craig wasn’t sure he’d still have a future as Bond, anyway. If only because of the toll the franchise took on Craig’s body.
“I thought I probably was physically not capable of doing another,” Craig said in a fairly recent interview with Games Radar. “For me, it was very cut and dried that I wasn’t coming back.”
Craig was so exhausted after his stint as James Bond that the franchise’s producers waited a long time before approaching him for a sequel. And After a healthy break away from Bond, Craig was willing to give his series another go.
“I went and did other things. I got some separation. My family forgave me for being away from home for that length of time,” Craig continued. “We started talking about it and I went, ‘There might be a story we need to finish here – something we started in Casino [Royale]. Something to do with Vesper, and Spectre, and something that was connected, in a way.’ It started to formulate. And I thought, ‘Here we go.’”
What Daniel Craig will miss the most about James Bond
Craig has finally been released from his duties as James Bond with his highly successful last film No Time to Die. In hindsight, even though Craig has had his issues with his Bond character, he admitted that truly saying goodbye wasn’t easy.
“I’ll miss everything, I think. I’ll miss the collaboration. I mean, hopefully I’ll keep working and I’ll have lots of other lovely jobs, but it’s very, very, very rare air,” Craig once told Entertainment Weekly. “Apart from Marvel movies, there aren’t movies that are as big as this. I’ve had the privilege of being involved in it. ..It was there before me, and it will be there after me. But I’ve had a chance to be part of all of this, and if you can’t get it up for a Bond movie as an actor, what can you get it up for? So, yeah, I’ll miss it a lot.”
