In reflecting on his time as James Bond before the release of No Time to Die, Daniel Craig talks about his favorite stunt that he got to perform during his tenure. Craig first appeared as the iconic spy in 2006’s Casino Royale, which sought to reinvent the franchise with a grittier, blonde-haired Bond. While Craig was far from the first actor to take on the role, he was able to bring his unique take on the character. As a result, Casino Royale was a massive success, both with critics and audiences who helped propel the film to over $600 million at the global box office.
With the Bond franchise kicked back into high gear, Craig was brought back for another four films. Casino Royale was quickly followed by 2008’s Quantum of Solace, which was still financially successful, but suffered from mediocre reviews. The next sequel, 2012’s Skyfall, seemingly heard the outcries from the previous installment and went about righting the ship, which it easily did with universal acclaim and over $1 billion in worldwide revenue. Another sequel followed with 2015’s Spectre, which again saw middling reviews, but it more than made up for it in box office returns. Now, after a long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Craig’s last performance as Bond in No Time to Die is finally hitting theaters, and Craig is looking back over his time as 007.
In a YouTube video from GQ, Craig was asked about his favorite stunts from his time as Bond and which he felt proudest of performing. Craig mentions that No Time to Die has a few he’s “very proud of,” but his fondest stunt comes from his first outing in Casino Royale. The stunt he broke down was the sinking house from the Venice sequence late in the film, which saw Bond trying to save Eva Green’s Vesper while under attack. During the sequence, the house begins to collapse, leading to an impressive set-piece rife with stunt work. Check out Craig’s comments below:
“My favorite stunt I’ve done. There’s a few on No Time to Die I’m very proud of, but probably the whole sequence we filmed in Venice on Casino Royale and not least of all because that wasn’t a lot of stunt work, but Chris Colbert, who designs our physical effects. So that’s the thing is that everything goes, that blows up and everything that you know, like, and he designed the sinking Venice house, which was a Venice house that sank into water and then reset and kept going. So we had to be filming in that, and I had to be jumping off things and flying into water. So I’m, I’m most proud of that probably because it was my first movie. And it just was just one of the most incredible sets I’ve ever been on.”
Beyond the stunts Craig performed for the scene, he also mentions how incredible the set was. While the Bond franchise routinely has massive action sequences, such as the dam jump in GoldenEye, or even the parkour scene on the crane from earlier in Casino Royale, creating an entire house that can sink into the water is no small task. Making a Bond film usually comes with a healthy-sized budget, which allows for some impressive effects, and it’s clear that Casino Royale took full advantage.
Craig is no stranger to performing stunts as Bond, even suffering numerous injuries doing so. During his run as 007, he’s ruptured both of his calf muscles and even torn ligaments. Before returning for No Time to Die, Craig even made comments about not wanting to make another Bond film, and it’s likely his injuries played a part in his decision. Luckily for audiences, Craig agreed to return to the part, and he’s set to bid farewell to James Bond when No Time to Die releases in the United States on October 8.
Source: GQ
Key Release Dates
- No Time to Die/James Bond 25 (2021)Release date: Oct 08, 2021
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