Daniel Craig insists he has no regrets over ending his reign as James Bond with “No Time to Die.” “It’s time to finish now. It’s done,” Craig told Variety ahead of the film’s Oct. 8 release. “It…
Daniel Craig insists he has no regrets over ending his reign as James Bond with “No Time to Die.”
“It’s time to finish now. It’s done,” Craig told Variety ahead of the film’s Oct. 8 release. “It’s been 16, nearly 17 years of my life. I’ve always had a plan in my head about these movies, and I’ve always tried to sort of instigate that plan as much as possible. I was incredibly fortunate to be able to keep a narrative going through them…This movie feels like the culmination of all that.”
Director and co-writer Cary Fukunaga and Craig’s co-stars also discussed what it was like finding out that they had been chosen for the 25th 007 film.
“I threw out my ideas that I thought might be interesting and that led to another meeting with Daniel, and that led to more meetings, and about a month later, full-on story meetings,” said Fukunaga, explaining how he was onboarded for the film. “Then [producer] Michael G. Wilson turns to me one day and says, ‘So you want to do it?’ And I said, ‘I thought I was doing it. We’ve been having meetings for a month!’ But no, it was great for it to be so casual, like are we doing this? Yes, we’re doing this.”
Rami Malek plays “No Time to Die” villain Safin. “I guess an essence of disbelief,” the Oscar winner said when asked what went through his head when he received his offer. “But mostly just sheer joy and thrill.”
Lashana Lynch plays fellow agent Nomi. “I didn’t get a call for a James Bond movie. I got a call for an untitled movie,” Lynch said. “So then finally getting to realize that it was a James Bond movie, and her name is Nomi by the way, and she’s a 00-agent by the way, was just like the gift that kept on giving.”
As for the future of the franchise, Lynch says she’s confident that producers will continue making strides towards empowering more identities in the Bond universe. “I just feel really proud to have worked with producers who have been radical in their thinking and have pushed the boundaries and pushed the envelope and put me in that position that I’m able to tell a narrative that’s really important to me and black women, women and young people,” Lynch said. “So much is being ticked with this that I feel like we’re rushing into the new era already. I have no worries about that.”
In a recent separate interview on the “Just for Variety” podcast, Ben Whishaw, who has played Q in the last five Bond films, said he believed that the franchise would need “radical” changes to keep it from becoming “a kind of museum piece.”
“No Time to Die” is in theaters now.