Daniel Craig is about to make his final appearance as James Bond in No Time to Die, but there was a time when it looked like 2015’s Spectre was going to be his last time wearing 007’s tux. At the time, the Knives Out actor said he’d rather “slit my wrists” than make another Bond movie. His comments went viral and made it look like Craig was eager to escape his contractual obligation to make another film.
But with Craig clearly proud of his incoming fifth outing as the super-spy and enthused for people to see it, it looks like he’s finally escaped the shadow of those comments. While speaking to RadioTimes (via The Independent), then, the actor put the record straight by revealing what he actually meant with those words. Craig explained that he was so exhausted following Spectre that he couldn’t face the idea of jumping into another one at that time.
“To be completely honest, I was thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can do another one of these.’ I finished filming Spectre with a broken leg,” Craig said. “To your point about being in my fifties now, I thought, ‘Do I have this in me? Do I want to go through all of this?’ I needed a break. A little more skill in the answer might have been better. I was joking but it came across as ungrateful.”.
As Craig says, a little more skill in his response might have saved him all that controversy, but his reluctance to do Bond 25 back in 2015 makes total sense. Likewise, it fits that, after a few years’ break, he was ready to saddle up again for No Time, which was filmed back in 2019. What’s more, he came back more involved in the creative and filmmaking side than ever, earning himself a producer credit this time around.
Though reviews have yet to drop, buzz is certainly high for No Time to Die as it’s being hyped up as the grand final chapter of the Craig era, with the cast and crew promising a thrilling action movie but with a strong emotional throughline, as well. Not to mention a great villain in Rami Malek’s Safin and a range of strong female characters, including Lashana Lynch’s Nomi. That’s pretty much all we could ever want from a Bond flick.
James Bond will return when No Time to Die hits UK cinemas on September 30th and US theaters on October 6th.