Daniel Craig turns 50 on Friday. The actor is signed on for his fifth Bond movie in 2019, but is he happy about it? Let’s look at his past statements.
Nov. 9, 2012 – “I’ve been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it.”
Craig told Rolling Stone he was reluctant to do another Bond movie after “Skyfall.” But he said he was under contract to do two more.
Nov. 9, 2012 – “I’ve got a contract that somebody will happily wipe their ass with.”
Craig added in that Rolling Stone interview that if the business for “Skyfall” wasn’t great, the studio might set him free.
Oct. 7, 2015 – “I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists.”
The quote above is from a Time Out London interview, in response to whether he could imagine doing another Bond movie. He also said if he did, it would only be for the money.
Oct. 7, 2015 – “Look, I don’t give a f—.”
Craig said he isn’t interested in who plays Bond next and won’t be “backseat driving” on set. He told Time Out London his only advice is this: “Don’t be s—. You’ve got to step up. People do not make movies like this any more. This is really rare now. So don’t be s—.”
Oct. 7, 2015 – “It’s a drag.”
Craig told Time Out that playing Bond was “a drag” because “the best acting is when you’re not concerned about the surface. And Bond is the opposite of that.”
Oct. 23, 2015 – “Let’s not forget that he’s actually a misogynist.”
Shortly after that infamous Time Out interview, Craig gave a less-publicized interview to The Red Bulletin, calling his character misogynist. “A lot of women are drawn to him chiefly because he embodies a certain kind of danger and never sticks around for too long.”
Oct. 23, 2015 – “Let’s not talk these films up as some kind of life-changing experience.”
When The Red Bulletin asked him what audiences could learn from the Bond movies, Craig said, “Nothing… Bond is what Bond does. Bond is very single- minded. He takes his own course. And that’s simple, which is great.”
Nov. 5, 2015 – Craig clarifies his past comments
Craig clarified his “slash my wrists” statement on “Today.” “If you’re 200 hundred yards from the end of a marathon and someone comes running up to you and says, ‘Are you gonna run another marathon?’ there’s two words you use. And not on a morning show!”
Oct. 10 2016 – “There is no other job like it… if I were to stop doing it, I would miss it terribly.”
In 2016, Craig said at the New Yorker Festival, “There is no other job like it…if I were to stop doing it, I would miss it terribly.”
Aug. 15, 2017 – “Instead of saying something with style and grace, I said something really stupid.”
Shortly after it was finally reported that Craig would be returning as Bond, he spent multiple interviews being “cagey” about whether it was true, but then finally confirmed the news to Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show.” When Colbert pressed him about his previous comments, namely wanting to “slash my wrists,” Craig replied, “Instead of saying something with style and grace, I said something really stupid.”
