Bond star plays down Craig quit quote

Daniel Craig was “just being sarcastic” when he said he wanted to “move on” from playing James Bond, according to his co-star Naomie Harris.

“Daniel lives and breathes Bond,” said the actress, who will reprise her role as Moneypenny in the new film Spectre, which comes out later this month.

Time Out magazine recently quoted Craig as saying he would “rather slash [his] wrists” than make a fifth Bond film.

Harris, though, said the actor’s words had been “blown out of proportion”.

“It was not as he intended it,” she told BBC News, claiming her co-star’s “sense of humour… doesn’t come across particularly well in print”.

Speaking at a promotional event for technology that features in Sam Mendes’ film, she continued: “He’s so dedicated to his craft and he loves playing Bond.

“It’s easy to take something that someone says in passing and blow it completely out of proportion. I think that’s what’s happened here, so I don’t really believe those comments at all.”

‘The ultimate Bond’

Craig’s remarks, made shortly after Spectre completed shooting in July, have ignited speculation over who will play Bond if the 47-year-old should relinquish the role.

Damien Lewis, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch are among those who have been suggested as potential successors.

According to Harris, however, Craig is “the ultimate Bond” and “it wouldn’t be Bond without him”.

Spectre, the 24th instalment in the official Bond series, will have its world premiere at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 26 October.

Harris, 39, said she had yet to see the film but had heard Writing’s On the Wall, Sam Smith’s chart-topping theme song.

“I think that it’s great and will have even more impact and meaning once it’s put into context,” she said.

Harris stars in a new advertisement for a Sony camera and phone, in which she has a Bond-style adventure on London’s South Bank.

The advert was directed by Daniel Kleinman, who designed the title sequences for Casino Royale, Skyfall and all the Bond films in which Pierce Brosnan appeared.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star said shooting the promo on London’s South Bank had allowed her to make use of the stunt training she undertook for Skyfall.

“It was great to be out there in the field on a mission and experience what it would be like to be Bond,” she said.

BBC