With Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond about to hit cinemas, the world’s media is enjoying speculation about who could potentially replace him as the next actor to portray 007 on the big screen.
But it seems one person who won’t be getting in on the fun is the man himself, who had some rather blunt answers when asked about the future of the Bond franchise on the red carpet at the No Time To Die premiere.
Australian reporter Brett McLeod of Today had a few (admittedly quite awkward) moments with Daniel at the glitzy event on Tuesday night, and asked whether the British actor was feeling “any sadness about this being the last time you go down the red carpet” for a James Bond film.
“Sure, yeah, yeah, sure,” Daniel replied. “Yeah. I don’t know how much I’ll miss this. But I don’t know. Maybe we’ll see. I’ll think about it tomorrow.”
Brett then asked whether the star was considering “doing a Sean Connery” and reprising the role later down the line, to which he said simply: “Nope. Definitely not.”
Finally, the reporter asked whether Daniel had “any preference on who the next James Bond should be”, with Idris Elba, Regé-Jean Page and Tom Hardy among the names reportedly in consideration.
“Not my problem,” Daniel then replied.
Daniel was similarly chatty when a journalist from the Daily Mail asked him on the red carpet whether he felt like he “said goodbye [to James Bond] quite a while ago”.
“No,” he began. “No, not at all. No.”
Daniel Craig has infamously had quite mixed feelings when it comes to his 15-year stint playing 007, once declaring he’d rather “slash his wrists” than return to the iconic spy series, only to end up signing up for one last film later down the line.
Addressing these remarks earlier this month, Daniel said: “ I needed a break. But a little more skill in the answer might have been better.
“I was joking, but it came across as ungrateful.”
No Time To Die hits cinemas on 30 September.