This past week, just as the publicity blitz for the soon-to-be-released (it comes out November 9th) James Bond film Spectre was ramping up, actor Daniel Craig, the man who plays the world’s most famous super-spy, provided some…uh…interesting thoughts on whether he was up to playing the character in another film:

Daniel Craig is so done with James Bond

and…

Daniel Craig: I’d rather “slash my wrists” than play James Bond again

When I presented the first linked article, found on io9, to someone I knew, their reaction to it was, I suspect, what the vast majority of people may feel.  This person opined that Daniel Craig needed to “get over himself” and not bite the hand that feeds him.  That working on these James Bond films has surely made him a ton of money while elevating awareness of him as an actor around the entire world.

I completely see this person’s point and yet… and yet…

Being an “artist”, be it a writer, musician, actor, etc. etc. is a very tough gig.  You can devote considerable time and effort to your projects only to see them fail to catch on.  You can labor for years and years in the shadows only to one day hit it big…on something you don’t have all that much love for at all.  You could even spend your entire life slaving over your artistic works and die a poor wo/man…and afterwards these works that were so stubbornly ignored by everyone during your lifetime become popular well after you’re able to enjoy the attention and financial gain from their later success.

If one looks at Daniel Craig’s IMDB page (you can read it here), you may be surprised to find that while Mr. Craig hit the big time with his first appearance as James Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale, he nonetheless has a wide variety of credits in various roles for both movies and TV shows dating all the way back to 1992.

Clearly this is an actor who has taken on many roles and while the success of his James Bond made him better known and most likely better paid, after spending nearly ten years of your life working on the same character in four movies it is obvious, based on the interviews he’s given, that he’s grown very tired of the role.

Daniel Craig’s laments, though, are not a particularly new development.

Who many consider the “best” James Bond, Sean Connery, also felt the drag of the role.  He left the series he made a world-wide success with his fifth James Bond film, 1967’s You Only Live Twice, and was so done with playing the character that they brought in George Lazenby to replace him in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.  The replacement actor in that case didn’t work all that well, especially for the producers of the franchise, and they lured Mr. Connery back, apparently thanks to a very big paycheck, for the 1971 Bond film Diamonds Are Forever.

But even with the better pay Sean Connery again left the series, famously stating “never again” in interviews and Roger Moore would take over the role starting with 1973’s Live and Let Die.  Interestingly, Sean Connery returned one last time to play James Bond in 1983’s “non-canonical” Never Say Never Again (yes, the title was a pun which referenced Mr. Connery’s “never again” statement).  The movie was a thinly veiled remake of Thunderball and is “non-canonical” because the producers of the other James Bond films were not involved in this movie’s production, which may be part of the reason why Mr. Connery agreed to come back to the role.  Regardless, it would mark the last time -canonical or not (some, including myself, feel that the 1996 movie The Rock had Sean Connery essentially playing James Bond again)- he would play the James Bond character.

So Daniel Craig is in good company regarding his current negative feelings toward the James Bond character and his work to create him.

And it is work.

Yes, the pay is far better than what most will ever make in our jobs but it is an investment in one’s time and, as someone who is currently engaged in a project that has taken nearly a decade to complete (and still requires at the very least 2-3 years), I can tell you from experience doing something for this long can be exhausting.

So despite everything, I do feel sympathy for Mr. Craig.  Yes, I envy the money he no doubt makes and I also wonder if its smart to make these comments at this particular time.  On the other hand, I can appreciate his candor, even if it might lead to negative feelings in others.

I also hope Spectre winds up being a great Bond film.  I always welcome them.