Daniel Craig may have retired from the role of Agent 007, but that doesn’t mean that James Bond has left his mind entirely. In an interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s Award’s Chatter podcast, Craig revealed that despite no longer playing the character, recently he took a trip down memory lane and re-watched his first Bond press conference, describing it as “a fucking train wreck.”
In 2006 Craig made his Bond debut in the spy movie Casino Royale. The star would then play the character for a total of five films before emptying his martini glass in the 2021 box-office hit No Time to Die. However, in his early Bond days, Craig was often met with criticism. This was mainly due to his differing appearance from past Bond stars such as the dark-haired Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. Needless to say, it was a rough start for Craig, and his first press conference for Casino Royale showed how he was still finding his footing as a big star in the iconic franchise.
“Once the announcement was made, and we did that incredibly successful press conference. I’ve watched bits of it,” Craig said. “It’s a fucking train wreck.”
“In some ways, I regret the way that press conference went; in other ways, I’m very happy the way that press conference went,” the actor continued. “I didn’t know how to turn on the charm, which was to be charming and be artful about it, ‘Oh, that’s a lovely question, how nice of you to ask that.’ I was just, ‘F*ck you! You, f*ck you as well!’ That’s all I wanted to say.”
Craig obviously learnt the ropes of Bond and how to handle the press with “charm” eventually, as his last entry as the character impressed fans and critics alike. No Time to Die currently holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is one of 2021’s highest-grossing films. However, Craig also hasn’t let go of his blunt and candid personality.
When asked what advice he’d give to his successor as Bond, the actor replied simply saying, “Don’t be shit.” To be fair, it is pretty solid advice. Currently, we don’t know who will be replacing Craig as Bond just yet, and we are curious to see how future 007 press conferences unfold. Stay tuned for updates.