While promoting No Time To Die on a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show, 007 actor Daniel Craig reminisced about an incident on the set of Spectre that left him running and hiding from his massive co-star Dave Bautista. The previous installment in the James Bond franchise hit theaters in 2015, but Craig still distinctly remembers its production, and the moment he thought Bautista was going to do very bad things to him. Via IndieWire:
“I threw a punch and hit him on the nose,” Craig said. “I heard this crack and I was like ‘Oh God no’ and ran away. I thought he was going to come after me, but he was so sweet.”
Craig said that Bautista set his nose back in place and production continued, adding, “He’s a lot tougher than I am. I’ll give him that.”
However, Bautista did end up getting Craig back, but at the actor’s direction. During another fight scene, Craig made the mistake of asking Bautista to be more forceful while throwing the 007 star against a wall, and he immediately regretted that decision.
“I ended up on the wall, but my knee was over here somewhere,” Craig told Norton. “I knew and it was horrible because if anyone’s had a serious injury, you just know in your head that something is really wrong.”
Despite walking away with injuries after filming both Spectre and No Time To Die, Craig isn’t looking forward to seeing his Bond successor being named. Granted, he’s had his moment where he wanted to leave the franchise, those feelings have softened in recent years, and he confessed to Norton that he’s not quite ready to see someone else fill his tux.
“It’s very emotional,” Craig said. “I’m glad I am ending it on my own terms. I’m grateful to the producers for letting me do that. But I sure miss it. I’ll probably be incredibly bitter when the new person takes over.”
Fortunately for Craig he’ll have some time to prepare for the next 007 being chosen. According to Variety, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli is in no rush to find Craig’s replacement, and the franchise won’t even start looking at actors until well into 2022.
(Via The Graham Norton Show, IndieWire)
