Daniel Craig may have only just bowed out as James Bond when No Time to Die began rolling out internationally less than a month ago, but he’ll quickly have to resign himself to the fact he’s going to spend the rest of his career being asked about the past, present and future of 007.
There’s a real argument to be made that he might just be the best iteration of the iconic character we’ve ever seen, reinventing Bond as a grounded, damaged and much more relatable figure than audience had become accustomed to, with his five-film arc also boasting the franchise’s greatest and deepest sense of continuity.
Eon Productions are planning to begin the casting search for his replacement next year, and the list of contenders has been a constant state of chopping and changing for years already. In a recent appearance on Kevin Hart’s podcast Straight from the Hart, Craig offered some sage advice when asked what he had to say to the next Bond.
“There’s a couple of things I’d say, but I mean, one is don’t be sh*t. I would say you’ve got to grab it and make it your own. I think that’s the way to go forward. I mean, I just committed myself to it as much as I possibly could and tried to sort of elevate it as much as I could. I hope I’ve left it in a good place and I hope the next person can just make it fly. It’s an amazing franchise, I still think there’s a lot of stories to tell.”
Craig knows a thing or two about being hit with pressure and backlash when being anointed as James Bond, with petitions and campaigns being launched to have him forcibly removed after he was announced in 2005. It’s not an easy gig, but you’d imagine he’d be there to lend some more sincere advice should anybody ask.
