Becoming James Bond may seem like a dream come true, but for Daniel Craig, the privilege came with some hardships.
After being cast as 007 in 2005 for Casino Royale, which came out in 2006, Craig admitted that he initially "didn't want to do it".
"As far as I was concerned I was already more successful than I would ever be as an actor — I did not have a cool persona," he told The Sun.
"I had done weird arty movies. It was a harder sell. And I didn’t really want to do it, because I thought I wouldn’t know what to do with it."
At the audition process, MGM chiefs did not believe Craig was the man with a license to thrill.
Producer Barbara Broccoli, who had first seen the actor in 1996 TV series Our Friends In The North, insists she was determined to hire him for the movie despite his reluctance.
She told The Sun: "I always thought whenever he was on the screen you could not watch anyone else. He is lit from within. It was clear he is a movie star and a great actor to boot."
She went on: "I really wanted him, but the biggest problem was that he didn’t want to do it. He came into the office, and I said to Michael afterwards, ‘He wants to do it’.
"We were determined to have him. We kept freaking the studio out as they kept trying to get us to meet other people."
It's safe to say Craig's life changed forever after becoming Bond. But coping with the fame was easier said than done.
He admitted that he was not prepared for the fame or scrutiny that came with such an iconic role.
"My personal life was affected by being that famous all of a sudden," he recalled. "I used to lock myself in and close the curtains, I was in cloud cuckoo land. I was physically and mentally under siege."
"I didn’t like the newfound level of fame. It was Hugh Jackman who helped me to come to terms with it and appreciate it."
Craig's fifth and final Bond movie, No Time To Die, is out in theaters now.
