For a man on a press tour that has been artificially lengthened by almost two years, Daniel Craig still has a remarkable amount to say about James Bond. No Time To Die is finally out in the world after its release was delayed three times by the Covid-19 pandemic, and to mark the occasion, Craig sat down with GQ to discuss many aspects of his time playing 007, answering fans’ questions from around the world.
“Doing No Time To Die was a chance to wrap up all the loose ends and finish what I’d started 15 years ago [in Casino Royale],” Craig explained in response to a question about what motivated him to come back for one final film, despite having announced in 2015 that he wanted to put an end to his time in the role.
“I hope [Bond’s] changed a lot while I’ve been part of him,” Craig continued. “What I’ve always tried to do is never judge him. He’s flawed, and his attitude towards the world and towards women is questionable, and I think that’s interesting. The way we’ve tried to deal with it is to cast as many strong female characters as possible, and for him to go up against those people.”
Craig went on to praise Judi Dench, who played M until her character was killed off in 2012’s Skyfall, highlighting her as a foil to his performance as Bond. “That relationship informed who he is, but also exposes him for what he is. I don’t judge the characters I play, I let the audience do that.”
Elsewhere, Craig talked about the injuries he’s picked up on Bond shoots – including how he broke a leg on one film and an ankle on another – as well as his favourite stunt. “There’s a few in No Time To Die I’m very proud of,” he hinted, “but [it’s] probably the whole sequence that we filmed in Venice on Casino Royale.” The set, he explained, was an entire Venice house rigged to sink into the water for the film’s climactic action sequence, and then reset itself for multiple takes. “It was one of the most incredible sets I’ve ever been on.” Filming the famous opening crane fight for the same film, sixty feet off the ground, Craig admitted that, “When I started Casino Royale I was afraid of heights, and after it, I wasn’t.”
He went on to reveal that his favourite gadget is the “simple” silver box that Sean Connery’s Bond used to break into a safe in You Only Live Twice, but warned that, “You can’t have gadgets for gadgets’ sake.” And a favourite shooting location was the Atacama Desert, in Chile, for Quantum Of Solace, where at night the cast and crew could gaze at “stars from horizon to horizon”.
In all, it paints the picture of a high-octane, sometimes difficult but extremely rich few years that redefined the Bond franchise and which saw Craig make the role entirely his own. “James Bond has changed my life immeasurably – 99 per cent of it for the better. I could never imagine being where I am today without James Bond.”
No Time To Die is out now in UK cinemas.
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