In a recent interview with the UK’s Sunday Times, Daniel Craig revealed that he would not have been able to portray his character in the Luca Guadagnino-directed film ‘Queer’ while he was still playing ‘James Bond.’
Based on William S. Burroughs’ 1985 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, ‘Queer’ stars Craig as William Lee, an American immigrant who falls in love with Eugene Allerton (played by Drew Starkey), a retired US Navy soldier.
“I couldn’t have done this while doing Bond,” Craig told the Sunday Times. “It would look reactionary, like I was showing my range.”
He continued, “Early on with Bond I thought I had to do other work, but I didn’t. I was becoming a star, whatever that means, and people wanted me in their films. Incredible. Most actors are out of work for large chunks so you take your job offers — but they left me empty. Then, bottom line, I got paid. I was so exhausted at the end of a Bond it would take me six months to recover emotionally. I always had the attitude that life must come first and, when work came first for a while, it strung me out.”
Craig also dismissed the idea that playing a gay character at the start of the Bond franchise would have been a commentary on masculinity.
“It’s just not a conversation I wanted. I had it all the way through Bond anyway,” he explained. “Could there be this Bond? That Bond? So anything that is going to inflame that conversation? No — life’s too short.”
Craig played the titular British Secret Service agent in five Bond films from 2006 to 2021. He debuted as Bond in ‘Casino Royale’ and concluded his tenure with ‘No Time to Die.’
