In the aftermath of Spectre, there was widespread talk that Daniel Craig was considering walking away from the James Bond franchise altogether, which was inevitably followed by a deluge of reports claiming the actor’s dissatisfaction was equal parts personal, professional and financial.
Of course, he ultimately signed on the dotted line for swansong No Time to Die, which has been dominating the international box office ahead of its domestic debut this Friday, with the majority of reviews praising it as a spectacular and fitting swansong to his five-film tenure.
Craig has been open in the past about how he struggled with the weight of carrying such an iconic property and the increased levels of fame that came with it, and in a new interview with USA Today he explained why he came so close to quitting the highest-profile role of his career.
“I’ve always tried to be honest about my feelings. When I started doing Bond, I threw myself into it and was as physical as I possibly could be. I felt like that was really important, that’s who I wanted my Bond to be. I wanted people to believe it was me doing those stunts. However, after Spectre, I genuinely felt like I couldn’t do that anymore. I felt like, ‘What was the point?’. Also, it’s at least a year out of my life away from home. And that is really tough on everybody. That call to my wife, when I go, ‘Hi, I got injured, I’m going to the hospital’, is not a great phone call to make. I didn’t feel like I could do it anymore.”
Had the leading man dropped out of James Bond following Spectre, there’s every chance he could have ended up ruing the decision for the rest of his life. No Time to Die allowed him to step away on his own terms, tying up an arc that began fifteen years ago with Casino Royale and bowing out with all of the loose plot threads left dangling from his previous outings largely resolved.
