It's been a wild ride for Daniel Craig as James Bond. The actor has been incredibly popular in the role over the last decade and a half and as much as fans love him, there have been times that Craig himself clearly hasn't loved the role quite as much. However, with No Time To Die, on the way, though now much further off than previously planned, Craig will say goodbye to James Bond once and for all, and the actor seems fine with that.
In a new profile with GQ it seems clear from Daniel Craig that No Time To Die was a bit harder to pull together than previous outings for James Bond. Craig says that, previously, when he was deep into the role before, he had a sort of focus on it, but that this time, for whatever reason, that was somewhat lacking. According to Craig...
This one I was like, ‘Nah, it’s not going to happen. It’s just not going to happen.’ It doesn’t mean I wasn’t as wound up and just as fucking, like, mad. Because the world outside sort of slightly ceases to exist. When you’re in it, you’re in it, and that’s the thing, I don’t know what it is, maybe having another kid, maybe just being older. But all of these things, I was just like, you know, fuck it. There are other things that are more important.
Following the release of Spectre, Daniel Craig quite famously said he'd rather slash his wrists than play James Bond again. At that point the idea of him ever playing the role again seemed impossible. The question of if Craig would return, and if not, who would take over, became a major topic in pop culture. And while he eventually decided to reprise the role one more time, it seems clear that the time to leave is now, as Craig doesn't sound like he was quite in the same head space to play the super spy this time around. As Craig says, his life has changed and he just sees that other things are more important.
While Daniel Craig may be ready for his time as James Bond to be over, he's going to have to wait a little bit longer now. While No Time to Die was originally set to release next month, the fact that the coronovirus outbreak could lead to the movie losing as much as a third of its box office total convinced MGM to put off the film's release until November. That means that Craig will have to continue to be James Bond for a few more months.
And once No Time to Die finally does arrive, we can start the conversation of who will play James Bond once again, and Daniel Craig can be happy to not be a part of the conversation ever again.
