Daniel Craig seems well and truly over all the James Bond questions that have followed him since he first took on the iconic role in 2006.
The 56-year-old actor announced his departure from the 007 role after the 2021 release of No Time To Die, his fifth Bond film following Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre.
His 15-year tenure marked the longest run for any Bond actor, a role first created by Ian Fleming in 1953 and brought to the big screen in 1962 with Dr. No, starring Sean Connery.
After a lineup of celebrated Bonds, including George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan, Craig’s portrayal became a fan favorite.
But now, Craig seems tired of questions about who will take over the role, which have swirled for years since he announced his retirement from the British spy series.
When asked in a recent interview about his thoughts on the next Bond, Craig’s reply was simply, “I don’t care.”
Before Bond, Craig had notable roles in films like Road to Perdition, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Our Friends in the North, Layer Cake, and Munich, but to many fans, he’ll always be remembered as Bond.
In a 2022 interview, Craig shared, “I had genuinely thought I would do one Bond movie, then it would be over. But by then, we knew we had a hit on our hands.
I realized the enormity of it, so I said to Barbara, ‘How many more? Three? Four?’ She said, ‘Four!’ I said, ‘OK. Then can I kill him off?’ She said, ‘Yes.’”
Craig also revealed details of the decision to end Bond’s life in No Time To Die. “If we kill Bond, we can begin again,” he explained.
“I think Barbara thought that too. But, bless them, the studio, MGM, were like, ‘What are you talking about? Are you out of your minds?’”
Barbara Broccoli, who runs the Bond franchise with her half-brother Michael G. Wilson, noted that reinvention is essential to keeping the series relevant.
Last year, she recalled the skepticism that surrounded Bond’s relevance after the Cold War, saying, “I go back to [1995’s] GoldenEye when everyone was saying ‘the Cold War is over, Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world’s at peace, and now there’s no villains’ – and boy, was that wrong!”
She praised Craig’s performance, saying he allowed them to look through Bond’s emotional depth, and noted that each Bond era reflects its time, adding, “There’s a big, big road ahead reinventing it for the next chapter, and we haven’t even begun with that.”
Over the past year, rumors have floated about who might fill Bond’s shoes next, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Regé-Jean Page, and Cillian Murphy all mentioned.
Recently, Normal People star Paul Mescal has become a favorite on Betfair, with other top contenders including The White Lotus star Theo James, Rebel Ridge actor Aaron Pierre, Happy Valley’s James Norton, and Masters of the Air’s Callum Turner.
Meanwhile, Craig has embraced a new comedic direction, with roles in Knives Out and Glass Onion.
He shared his excitement about making people laugh, saying, “I want to make people laugh – it’s cathartic. Or else we’re screwed.”
