James Bond fans could be forgiven for getting a little bit impatient in their wait for the latest film in the franchise – No Time To Die. Due to a worldwide pandemic the film has ended up coming nearly 18 months later than it was supposed to and of course this isn’t just any Bond film – this is the final film for the man that many say has played the best version of Bond – Daniel Craig.
That is something that is certainly not lost on Craig himself. “I’ve spent the last 16 years of my life playing James Bond,” he says as he rubs his brow deep in thought. “That is almost impossible to imagine now because it only feels like yesterday that I started it. It has been phenomenal – an incredible experience on both a professional level and a personal level.”
“It really has been a privilege to be part of the Bond universe and to play James Bond,” he says continuing and it is easy to see that he is lost for words. “I still don’t believe that I am James Bond today and I guess that just goes to show that it is beyond my imagination.”
Of course James Bond fans are getting ready for that moment that will be Daniel Craig’s last moment on screen as Bond but for the actor himself he had to prepare himself for that final day of shooting after which he had to hand back his license to kill.
“On set my final day as at Pinewood,” he explains. “It was actually my last night because it was the middle of the night and it was raining. It was cold and I thought everybody would just want to go home and I was expecting for it to be a quick goodbye but then all of the cast and all of the crew, even some came down out of the offices to say goodbye and it was very emotional. I had to make a speech and I’m not very good at making speeches because I don’t like giving them. But I really had to try and keep it together and it was difficult because I felt very emotional.
It is also obvious through chatting to Craig that is well aware of the legacy that he is now part of. “Way back when Sean Connery first appeared in Bond movies there was no such thing as a blockbuster,” he explains. “I mean there were big, big movies but there was no such things as big action, adventure movies – there were war movies but there was nothing quite like them and they have kind of set a tone for cinemas since then and they have been an event whenever they have come out. There has been a song, there has been fashion, there has been politics and all of the things that go along with a Bond movie. I think Fleming’s novels put them on their way but I think it is how they have been produced over the years that has kept them an exciting thing to look forward to for families and everybody.”
One of the big questions that had been circulating around Hollywood was who would the person be that would bring Daniel Craig’s last Bond film to the big screen and in the end that role was given to director Cary Joji Fukunaga who was known for films such as Sin nombre and Beasts Of No Nation. It is easy to see from listening to Craig that he believes Fukunaga was the right man for the job.
“Cary has brought a unique sense of style to the film,” says Craig after thinking for a moment. “He is very different from the other directors that we have had before and I was really keen for somebody different to come on board so the look and feel of the movie would be very unique, but foremost he is a Bond fan so he understood the importance of the tropes and of the gags that everybody is used to. He has also put his own particular spin on them which is more than I could have ever hoped for.”
No Time To Die is in cinemas now.
