Daniel Craig took the Bond mantle from Pierce Brosnan beginning with Casino Royale in 2006, and his tenure continued with Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015) before NTTD. Press Association

Daniel Craig on leaving James Bond behind: 'I'll miss everything, I think'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 10/5/21

No Time to Die is primed to set box office records and monopolize cinematic conversation once it finally arrives Friday (Oct. 8).

But while most everybody around the world is looking forward to the 25th installment in the James Bond film franchise, Daniel Craig is looking back as he prepares to officially say goodbye to the titular spy role.

"I'll miss everything, I think," Craig told Entertainment Weekly. "I'll miss the collaboration. I mean, hopefully I'll keep working and I'll have lots of other lovely jobs, but it's very, very, very rare air. Apart from Marvel movies, there aren't movies that are as big as this. I've had the privilege of being involved in it. ... It was there before me, and it will be there after me. But I've had a chance to be part of all of this, and if you can't get it up for a Bond movie as an actor, what can you get it up for? So, yeah, I'll miss it a lot."

The 53-year-old actor also addressed why he decided to come back for No Time to Die after previously intending for 2015's Spectre to be his final outing as Bond:

"I finished that movie with a broken leg. I'm not moaning about that; it's just the way it was. I had to question myself: Was I physically capable of doing [another one], or did I physically want to do another one? Because that phone call to your wife [actress Rachel Weisz] saying, 'I've broken my leg' is not pleasant. But I had a break. It was five years, and we had an idea, an idea that I'd had on Casino Royale. I spoke to Barbara [Broccoli, Bond franchise producer] about it, and she said, 'Yeah, go for it.' We expanded that idea, and that became the plot or became at least what we were aiming for, and I'm very, very, very happy we did."

It was previously noted by GamesRadar+/Total Film this summer that Craig suffered a torn meniscus in his knee.

Craig took the Bond mantle from Pierce Brosnan beginning with Casino Royale in 2006, and his tenure continued with Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015) before NTTD.

To soak up all of Craig's nostalgia, you can stream his Bond retrospective Being James Bond on Apple TV Plus.