“I was joking, but it came across as ungrateful.”
Daniel Craig has come out to explain his infamous 2015 comment where he was quoted as saying he’d rather “slash my wrists” than play James Bond again.
In a 2015 interview with Time Out ahead of the release of his previous outing as 007, Spectre, Craig was asked if he’d do another film, to which he responded: “Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.”
When asked at the time who he thinks should be next to take on the mantle, he once again didn’t hold back, saying “Look, I don’t give a fuck. Good luck to them! Make it better, that’s all”.
However cut to 2021 and the 53-year-old seems to have much more reverence for the role and after reflecting upon his choice of words, he admits that it came across as “ungrateful”.
Speaking to the Radio Times, Craig said of the remark: “To be completely honest, I was thinking: I don’t know if I can do another one of these.
“I finished filming Spectre with a broken leg. To your point about being in my 50s now, I thought, ‘Do I have this in me? Do I want to go through all of this?’ I needed a break.”
He went on to admit that “a little more skill in the answer might have been better”, with that caveat that, “[he] was joking, but it came across as ungrateful.”
The five-time Bond caused further debate in the same interview after he said: “Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”
In his emotional goodbye to the role and the crew last week, Craig made it clear that despite his very vocal struggles with the role, he is much more grateful for the opportunity now and understands what a privilege it is to be given such an iconic and coveted role.
Related links:
- Daniel Craig reveals the dark side of playing Bond – ‘I was physically and mentally under seige’
- A shake up that will cause a stir: Here’s who should play Bond next
- Bond ‘could be a man or a woman’ says No Time To Die star Lashana Lynch
