Daniel Craig seems much happier playing Benoit Blanc than James Bond, says Dave Bautista
Craig's Spectre co-star says he seems much happier on Glass Onion
Aux News Benoit Blanc
Shocking anyone who’s never read any of the many deeply dispirited interviews he used to give right after he was done filming a Bond movie—including one in which he infamously noted that he’d rather “slash my wrists” than play the character again at the moment—Daniel Craig is apparently a lot happier playing Benoit Blanc than Britain’s most lethal spy. This is per co-star Dave Bautista, who’d presumably know, having appeared with Craig in both Spectre—his penultimate Bond film—as well as in the upcoming Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
Bautista was talking with Entertainment Weekly about Rian Johnson’s upcoming mystery, which will get a short theatrical run starting on November 23 before sliding onto Netflix the following month. On the topic of Craig, Bautista says he’s seen a marked change between his morale on the two sets:
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. He was just so much fun, and he was always smiling and happy and interacted a lot more. 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.
In other interviews, Craig has stated that he’s happy to play drawling detective Blanc for pretty much as long as Johnson is willing to keep making these movies; it’s clear, from Knives Out, and from promo materials for Glass Onion, that he’s having a blast playing a character who can, say, smile without it feeling like a major break in character, or ramble a bit about the metaphysical importance of donut holes without it seeming wildly out of his grim and bitter character.
28 Comments
I’d be miserable too if I was starring in Spectre.
I was miserable enough watching the Craig Bonds. I can see how you’d be happier doing a good job in good films than doing a bad job in lousy ones.
I’m going to go out on a limb here so bear with me but maybe would it have been better to cast as James Bond someone happier to be there if it bothered him so much? Just putting that out there.
I mean you’d be pretty unhappy in the role if they made you do your own stunt of getting repeatedly whipped in the balls in Casino Royale, which I have on good authority they did repeatedly to Craig even when the cameras weren’t rolling, and just as a lark between scenes in the sequels.
Respect
Would never take a thing for this. Not sure you’re on authority for this.How did they do this stunt? And in what ways did it go wrong? Because it’s not about them having him doing the stunt that’s interesting. It’s about the stunt going wrong…
Hi, I’d like to introduce you to the concept of jokes. I think you might really enjoy them.
With all the ladies Bond got to “score with” over the years, the character was overdue for some cock-and-ball torture. Craig just had bad timing taking on the gig.
Yeah, Mads was apparently quite the prankster and carried that rope contraption around all the time. At the craft services table, loading up a bagel? Ballsmack!
Word on the street is that he even did that for the movies he wasn’t in. Showed up on the set of Spectre and would creep out from behind the gaffer… BALLSMACK. What a goof.
He was the best James Bond, though.
I’m the Roger Moore generation.A View to a Kill was on TV recently and I watched the whole thing (again). It’s nice to rediscover that it’s possible for a film to not be very good but still thoroughly enjoy yourself.
Same here- I grew up with Roger Moore & enjoyed his Bond films immensely. Moonraker, Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only are great flicks- fun, not too serious but also really good adventures.
I always have to set aside Moonraker because it’s just too ridiculous, but the others are pure entertainment for sure. I always loved the underwater fight scene where a guy in a deepwater suit shows up. For Your Eyes Only, maybe? They honestly run together at this point.
i think they should just bail on Bond (the Broccolis won’t of course) and find/create a new superspy whatsamajigga that people may enjoy more…
I’m sure Craig was perfectly thrilled to be cast as Bond in the early 2000s. And I can also see how the role would look different after a couple of movies: they’re long, physically demanding shoots. They’re not particularly character driven plots. You’re tasked with carrying the biggest film franchise of the 20th century forward into the 21st century. There’s a ton of weight on your shoulders, and some of the scripts you get are, charitably, not so good (Quantum of Solace, anyone?). And when filming wraps, you’ve still got to fly all around the world to mindless press junkets promoting the thing and answering the same inane questions over and over again.And while you’re doing that, you have to turn down a whole bunch of other, interesting work that you can’t get into your schedule because of the sheer amount of time it takes to make and promote a Bond film. I think Craig can be forgiven for admitting to being tired of the role in some press conferences. Plus, Craig is a way more versatile actor than Bond let him be. I watch a film like Logan Lucky and I can totally understand why he might want to flex his acting chops beyond the confines of Bond.
He may not have gone in with a full picture of how beaten and bitter a character this version of Bond was going to be across the arc of three films. I guarantee you Roger Moore had a much better time.
I think that’s very possible. Craig’s Bond in Casino Royale was written with some (not a ton, but some) levity and humor, and after Vesper’s death all that just evaporates. You’re left with a much more flattened character.
Yeah I don’t need my Bond conflicted about what he does for a living. Which is bang hot chicks, sip martinis, pound heaters, escape from unnecessarily complicated situations, save the day, and bang hot chicks.
So, Jimmy Fallon?
Sounds like Craig was a mere ghost of his true self back then.
The rare anti-pun pun. Respect!
“Craig has stated that he’s happy to play drawling detective Blanc for pretty much as long as Johnson is willing to keep making these movies”please god no
IMO he was the best Bond but CHRIST am I glad he’s not Bond any more and the whole series is taking a bit of a hiatus because I am exhausted hearing how miserable he was while filming these movies that physically injured him but paid him $25 million just for the last movie.
Well I do declare, this is some rip-roarin’, matter a fact, straight from the horses mouth kind a news, right here!
Daniel Craig confessed in secrecy that he wasn’t happy filming Spectre because of the production choice to go with the Sam Smith title song instead of the Radiohead theme.
Totally understandable.
I feel so sorry for Craig having to act as James Bond for so many films. I can totally understand how miserable that must have made him.
With Blanc he gets to make some fun, campy choices. Knives Out was make better by his doughnut ramblings.