Daniel Craig says James Bond fame was “emotionally difficult” for his family
Daniel Craig has revealed that playing James Bond was “emotionally difficult” for both him and his family.
The actor played the 007 spy for five films: Casino Royale (2006), Quantum Of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2016) and No Time To Die (2021).
The role inevitably brought him a level of fame that far outstripped his previous status, and now in a new interview at the BFI in London, he has opened up about how that presented its own challenges.
When asked by critic Mark Kermode whether he enjoyed playing Bond, he said: “I did. I loved every second of it. I mean, some of it was tough and weird and strange and emotionally kind of difficult for everybody, including my family. The fame is weird.”
Reflecting on weighing up the decision to accept the role, which came at around the time he starred in Steven Spielberg’s Munich (2005), he added: “I was working and had a little bit of fame and it bought me, you know, a drink at the bar. But I could still go anywhere.”
He did go on to say, however, that his hesitation about celebrity “couldn’t be the reason not to” take the part.
Craig is currently starring in Queer, the new film from Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me By Your Name) in which he stars as William Lee, an American expat in Mexico City who spends his days and nights cruising gay bars and picking up young men, as well as mingling with other members of a small homosexual expat community.
The actor recently said he would not have taken on his role in the film during his Bond run. “I couldn’t have done this while doing Bond,” he said. “It would look reactionary, like I was showing my range.
He explained that he did not want to show Bond fans a different depiction of masculinity: “It’s just not a conversation I wanted. I had it all the way through Bond anyway. Could there be this Bond? That Bond? So anything that is going to inflame that conversation? No — life’s too short.”
In a four-star review of Queer, NME wrote: “Craig delivers one of his best performances to date as Lee, investing him with a palpable world-weariness and making you feel every moment of hope, desire, ecstasy and crushing disappointment.
“Starkey is excellent too, generating strong chemistry with Craig, but the supporting cast honours are jointly stolen by a portly Jason Schwartzman (as fellow homosexual expat Joe Guidry) and Britain’s own Leslie Manville, whose make-up job as jungle botanist Dr Cotter has to be seen to be believed.”
Queer is in UK cinemas from Friday (December 13).
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Max Pilley
NME
