Daniel Craig snubbed James Bond at first due to typecast worries

Daniel Craig initially rejected the chance to play James Bond as he was fearful of being typecast.

The 56-year-old actor portrayed 007 in five movies spanning from 2006's 'Casino Royale' to 2021's 'No Time To Die' but had reservations about taking the part of the legendary spy as he was concerned it could limit other opportunities for him in the movie industry.

Asked if he was nervous about accepting the Bond role, Daniel told The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter Podcast: "Yes, for sure. That's why I turned it down - I mean, I said, 'No'. There wasn't a script at the time, so again, my arrogance was unbelievable, but I was just like, 'Well, until I see a script, I couldn't possibly make a a decision.'

"And it was fear, exactly what you're talking about, of that thing and many others, how it would flip my life. I was making a pretty good living at the time, so if I spent my life doing what I was doing at the time, I would've been more than happy.

"But it was really one of those things where - I mean to be typecast as James Bond? Boo-hoo."

Daniel's take on Bond is considered to be more vulnerable than his predecessors as 007 and he explained that he was key to the approach because he didn't want to "copy" what had come before in the franchise.

The 'Queer' actor said: "I'm interested in lots of things, but I wasn't interested in doing a copy of something, or representing something, or doing something that somebody else had done. And also, as an actor, the only thing that really gets me up in the morning is the emotional journey of a character.

"I knew who James Bond was, I’d done the research, and I wanted to keep it within those parameters. But within those parameters, I wanted to explore vulnerability, I wanted to explore whether there was a human person inside that. I didn’t know how else to do it. Honestly, I mean, it sounds like, 'This is what I was going to do,' but I actually don’t know how else to act."

Daniel took on other film roles between Bond movies - such as 'Defiance' and 'Cowboys and Aliens' - but explained that his attempts to showcase his versatility as an actor left him burnt out.

He said: "I think I felt that I had to prove myself. And after a while I just realised that I didn't have the energy to do that.

"It's not knocking movies like 'Defiance', because I'm very proud of them. But Bond is your life when you're doing it - each movie is about two years out of your life; you're away from home for over six months; and the idea of fitting someone else in because of the need to prove to the world that I've got range, it's kind of ridiculous, so I stopped doing that.

"There's some movies I did do that I was incredibly proud of. But I was exhausted while doing those films. It was better just to concentrate on the Bonds."