Daniel Craig reveals that taking part in James Bond left him ’empty and exhausted’ and admits he might by no means have taken on racy new movie Queer if he was nonetheless 007

Daniel Craig has revealed that he felt ’empty’ and emotionally ‘exhausted’ after shooting each of his James Bond movies.

The 56-year-old actor starred in five Bond films between 2006 and 2021, and Daniel has now admits that the money-spinning movies took a physical and emotional toll on him. 

Since moving on from his Bond role he has gone on to star in a number of other films and will next be seen in racy new movie Queer.

He stars alongside Drew Starkey, 31, in Luca Guadagnino’s anticipated movie based on William Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novella of the same name. 

The period romantic drama, set in 1950s Mexico City, follows American expat and war veteran William Lee (played by Craig), who has a romance with a younger man, Eugene Allerton (Starkey), a drug addict and discharged Navy serviceman.

But reflecting on his Bond days, he told The Sunday Times this weekend: ‘I couldn’t have done this (Queer) while doing Bond. It would look reactionary, like I was showing my range.

‘Early on with Bond I thought I had to do other work, but I didn’t. I was becoming a star, whatever that means, and people wanted me in their films. Incredible. 

‘Most actors are out of work for large chunks so you take your job offers – but they left me empty. Then, bottom line, I got paid. 

‘I was so exhausted at the end of a Bond it would take me six months to recover emotionally. I always had the attitude that life must come first and, when work came first for a while, it strung me out.’ 

Daniel remains very fond of the Bond franchise, and he’s curious to see where producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson decide to take it next.  

He added that who the next Bond could be ‘isn’t my decision or problem’ but said he wished those choosing ‘good luck’. 

It comes after Daniel revealed he ended up ‘writing a lot of lines’ in Bond’s 2008 movie Quantum Of Solace – admitting the film ‘just didn’t quite work’.

He reminisced his time on set but bluntly admitted it was a ‘f***ing nightmare’ – as they were short of writers and production started without a script.

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter Podcast, the Knives Out star said: ‘Difficult second album — f***ing nightmare.

‘Paul Haggis did a pass on the script. Then he went off and joined the picket line and we didn’t have writers’.

‘We should never have started production, ‘I ended up writing a lot of that film, which I probably shouldn’t say.’

The English actor continued: ‘There are some amazing stunt sequences in it but it just didn’t quite work.

‘The storytelling wasn’t there, that’s a lesson — starting a movie without a script is not a good idea.’

During the same interview, the actor also revealed he initially rejected the chance to play James Bond as he was fearful it could limit other opportunities for him in the movie industry.

He portrayed 007 in five movies spanning from 2006’s Casino Royale to 2021’s No Time To Die, but admits he had reservations about taking the part of the legendary spy.

When asked if he was nervous about accepting the Bond role, Daniel told: ‘Yes, for sure. That’s why I turned it down – I mean, I said, “No”. 

‘There wasn’t a script at the time, so again, my arrogance was unbelievable, but I was just like, ‘Well, until I see a script, I couldn’t possibly make a decision.’

‘And it was fear, exactly what you’re talking about, of that thing and many others, how it would flip my life. 

‘I was making a pretty good living at the time, so if I spent my life doing what I was doing at the time, I would’ve been more than happy.

‘But it was really one of those things where – I mean to be typecast as James Bond? Boo-hoo.’

Daniel took on other film roles between Bond movies – such as Defiance and Cowboys and Aliens – but explained that his attempts to showcase his versatility as an actor left him burnt out.

He said: ‘I think I felt that I had to prove myself. And after a while I just realised that I didn’t have the energy to do that.

‘It’s not knocking movies like ‘Defiance’, because I’m very proud of them. 

But Bond is your life when you’re doing it – each movie is about two years out of your life; you’re away from home for over six months; and the idea of fitting someone else in because of the need to prove to the world that I’ve got range, it’s kind of ridiculous, so I stopped doing that.

‘There’s some movies I did do that I was incredibly proud of. But I was exhausted while doing those films. It was better just to concentrate on the Bonds.’