Credit: Spectre
Back in 2015, Daniel Craig made his feelings known regarding playing James Bond clear in his interview with Time Out London when asked about doing another Bond movie, “Now? I’d rather break this glass and slash my wrists. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That’s fine. I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.” Now Craig would eventually sign up to do No Time Die, and that officially became his final time as the iconic character. Daniel Craig would eventually explain his reasoning for his statement, as the role took a toll on him both mentally and physically, which contributed to his wanting to be done with James Bond.
The press surrounding Craig and No Time Die was kinder, but it was clear that the actor was ready to move on. One of the people who noticed that Craig was over the whole James Bond thing was Dave Bautista, who starred alongside Craig as Mr. Hinx in Spectre. Seven years later, Craig and Bautista worked together once again, but in the upcoming Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion. It was during that time the former wrestler-turned-actor noticed how much happier the 54-year-old was during filming, citing the difference in attitude in his interview with Entertainment Weekly, “He was really put through it on Bond,” said Bautista. “You could feel that he was under a lot of pressure. He didn’t seem like the happiest person on Bond, but on Glass Onion, it was the complete opposite.”
Credit: Spectre
“He was just so much fun, and he was always smiling and happy and interacted a lot more,” said Bautista. “On Spectre, there wasn’t a whole lot of interaction with the whole cast. But Glass Onion was the complete opposite. We were always together. So, I got to know him better as a person and actually see him do his thing.”
Daniel Craig played James Bond for over 15 years, and the challenges of playing Ian Fleming’s infamous spy were certainly demanding. Of course, financially, Craig strongly benefitted from playing the title character in a span of five films, with Craig reportedly earning a hefty $25 million upfront to return to No Time to Die. The actor also got a percentage of the profits, so Craig’s payday was never the issue. As previously mentioned, it was likely a combination of franchise fatigue and the fact that the James Bond franchise is more of an action-oriented affair, with Craig preferring something of an emotional core. Though Craig is likely happy that the Bond franchise is in his rearview mirror, the actor has stated that he carried a valuable lesson that helped him retool Benoit Blanc in the Knives Out sequel:
Credit: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
“I’ve spent the past 15 years of my life trying to do that in a franchise, so I’m not afraid of it. If you’ve got the right people in the room and the right talent, then you can do it. Rian’s a genius writer and doesn’t want to repeat [himself]. Neither do we want to let people down; we want audiences to enjoy the world that we created in the first one and believe in this one.”
Audiences will finally get a chance to enjoy Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on December 23, 2022, on Netflix. In addition to both Bautista and Craig, the star-studded cast includes Ed Norton, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monae, and Jessica Henwick. The film has a strong 92% score on rotten tomatoes so it does seem as if the sequel will be as entertaining as its predecessor. Let’s hope the high quality of these films can last through the entire Netflix deal.
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