Daniel Craig reveals why he wanted to do 1 more Bond film

By Danielle Long

For Daniel Craig, 2015's "Spectre" was the last time he thought he'd be playing the iconic James Bond.

"I thought I probably was physically not capable of doing another," Craig, who suffered a torn meniscus during filming, told Total Film. "For me, it was very cut and dried that I wasn't coming back."

However, the opportunity to explore a different side of Bond drew the English actor back in for one last hoorah.

"It's interesting to explore his emotions, because he's a cut-off character. He doesn't feel like other people, because he's a killer," he explained. "On 'Casino' he loses the love of his life, and then the shutters come down. On 'Quantum,' the flawed movie that it is, it's about revenge. And 'Skyfall' is about M. It's about loss. They're big themes. And I think, 'Yeah! Why not have big themes?'"

For Craig's last film, the pandemic-delayed "No Time To Die," the theme takes a turn. It's about "love and family," he said.

"Because what's bigger than that?" he asked. "Bond's 'family' being Moneypenny and Q and M. And then Lashana [Lynch] comes in, and she's like a distant cousin who you're not sure about."

"No Time To Die" marks the end of Craig's 14-year reign as James Bond, and while it's been a roller coaster of a ride, there's no doubt that he'll miss being a super spy extraordinaire.

"I'm incredibly proud and honored to have been a part of it in the way that I was," he shared, adding that the reason he got to work with "the best people in the industry."

"So I just think: If you can’t get excited about a Bond movie, what can you get excited about?" he added.