Daniel Craig’s Co-Star Says He Was Miserable As James Bond

Dave Bautista says that Daniel Craig was much more pleasant to work with on the set of Glass Onion than his miserable persona filming James Bond.

By Mark McKee | Published

There have been six people to bring James Bond to life in the franchise that has spanned the last six decades; the first was Sean Connery, who made the character a global sensation, and the most recent, Daniel Craig. On the surface, any British actor should be thrilled to take on the role of the suave secret agent, but a new comment by a co-star suggests that playing James Bond may not be all it is cracked up to be. According to Deadline, Dave Bautista commented that Craig was less than happy working for MI6. 

According to Bautista, who starred with Daniel Craig in both 2015’s Spectre and the upcoming Knives Out sequel, Knives Out: A Knives Out Mystery, commented that the actor was much happier in the latter film than he was in the first. He said that you could tell that he was under a lot of pressure when he played Bond, and when he saw him again on the set as Benoit Blanc, he was the complete opposite.

daniel craig
Daniel Craig as James Bond

The former professional wrestler compared the experience on set between the two, saying that there wasn’t a lot of time together with each other on Spectre, but in Glass Onions, there was a lot of smiling and interaction between the two, and he got to know Craig much better as a person. Of course, if there was anyone who should have less than glowing memories of his time as James Bond, it is Daniel Craig.

Bautista said in the interview, Craig was really put through it as Bond. He was 38 when he took on the role, and while that is still relatively young in the grand scheme of things, playing one of the biggest action heroes of all time for over a decade, beginning when you’re pushing 40 means your body is going to go through it, and Craig’s paid the price for his time making his five films.

While filming Quantum of Solace, Craig tore his labrum and reinjured it doing a stunt later, he ruptured both calf muscles on the set of Skyfall, and Bautista himself tore Craig’s ACL when he threw him across a train car on the set of No Time to Die. Dave Bautista first appeared alongside Daniel Craig in his fourth run as James Bond in the film Spectre. While it wasn’t the most beloved of Craig’s appearances, it was the film that finally introduced the long-awaited villain, Blofeld, played by Christof Waltz.

With the darker tone that Craig brought to the James Bond franchise combined with the repeated injuries he sustained on set, it isn’t a surprise that Craig felt the role take its toll. Now, the pair are set to see each other again in theaters with Glass Onions, and fans are set to see the reprisal of a fan favorite. While Bautista says the actor seems to be much happier now that his beloved character is in his rearview, we bet he won’t be letting the wrestler throw him across any rooms in the near future.