Daniel Craig Gave An Emotional Speech On His Final Day As James Bond

Daniel Craig didn’t always seem happy to be James Bond. He’s a serious, classically-trained thespian, and he didn’t always hide his feelings about playing an action hero in a sometimes retrograde franchise. But on his final day on the job in his last Bond movie, Craig got mushy.

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A video clip surfaced online recently showing Craig addressing the cast and crew of No Time to Die. (Keep in mind, this is from nearly two years ago, shooting having wrapped in October of 2019.) Clad in a tux, he launched into a short but bittersweet speech.

“A lot of people here worked on five pictures with me,” Craig says, clearly holding back tears. “I know there are a lot of things said about what I think of these films, but I’ve loved every single second of these movies. And especially this one because I’ve got up every morning, and I’ve had the chance to work with you guys. And that has been one of the greatest honors of my life.”

Craig began his tenure as the sixth Bond in the franchise with 2006’s Casino Royale, which took an aging film series in a new and grittier direction. No Time to Die will only be his fifth stint as 007 in 15 years — two less than Roger Moore, one less than Connery (not counting the non-canonical Never Say Never Again), though one more than Pierce Brosnan. It’s still unclear where the series will go next, but, you know, maybe it should be one of the guys who pops up at the end of the video below.