Daniel Craig has explained what prompted him to play James Bond ahead of his final outing as the British spy.
The actor signed on to play 007 in the 2006 film Casino Royale and played him thee more times up until Spectre in 2017.
No Time to Die, which is set to be released in November, will be his fifth and final Bond film.
Speaking on the film's brand new official six-part podcast, the actor said he only accepted the role after ensuring he could do something different to what had come before with actors, including Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan.
"The deal was, I said to [producers] Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [G Wilson] before I read the script – it's so arrogant, it's ridiculous - I just said I can't do an impression of something that's come before," Craig said.
He continued: "I can't recreate what you've done before. Brilliant though that is, I can't do it. I can't come in and try and be something that people expect."
Craig told them: "I can come in and try and reinvent it, because that to me is fascinating and interesting."
Thankfully, the producers had the exact same idea in mind.
"Instead of them saying, 'Thanks very much, bye,' they said, 'Yeah, that's exactly what we want you to do.'"
In the same podcast, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli seemed to reveal a tantalising link to Craig’s first Bond film Casino Royale while teasing the new outing.
No Time to Die has been delayed until 2 April 2021.
