Daniel Craig is absolutely, positively done with James Bond.
The actor told Total Film that he had no intention of coming back after Spectre (the 24th Bond film). “I thought I probably was physically not capable of doing another,” says Craig, who, on top of a punishing six-month shoot, tore the meniscus in his knee during filming. “For me, it was very cut and dried that I wasn’t coming back.”
What makes No Time To Die unique is that it’s created to be a traditional send-off to Craig. Sean Connery and George Lazenby were the only ones to announce they were leaving the role, but usually, an actor is replaced without notice to the public. Craig goes on to discuss his final film and the finality of it all. Craig describes the movie as having “finality to it.” “In terms of closing the story, the circle is complete now. It feels emotionally satisfying.”
It was also Craig’s idea to bring on Fleabag actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who was brought in for late-stage script revisions, as he’s a big fan of her work. In the revisions, she focused specifically on building Ana De Armas’ character Paloma. No Time To Die creates a world where James Bond is no longer relevant, and things have moved on without him. “What we wanted to do was... not ridicule him. It’s sharing in the fun with the audience,” Craig explains. “But you’ve got to be respectful of what it is.”
The Total Film interview is pretty extensive and offers a fuller scope of what’s to come regarding No Time To Die. I recommend reading the whole thing.
The film is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and stars Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Naomie Harris, Lea Seydoux, Ana De Armas, and Ralph Fiennes. The movie will premiere this October!
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