Daniel Craig says he “couldn’t” have played a role like that of the gay protagonist of Queer during his 15-year run as James Bond because it would have looked “reactionary”.

The actor has been drawing rave reviews for his turn in the new William S Burroughs adaptation, directed by Challengers filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.

Speaking to The Times, Craig opened up about his inability to take on roles such as this while he was playing 007.

“I couldn’t have done this while doing Bond. It would look reactionary, like I was showing my range,” he said.

“It’s just not a conversation I wanted. I had it all the way through Bond anyway. Could there be this Bond? That Bond? So anything that is going to inflame that conversation? No – life’s too short.”

Craig played Bond in five films between 2006 and 2021, starting with the franchise’s soft reboot Casino Royale.

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In the interview, he also spoke about the toll that the Bond films used to take on him, revealing that he needed half a year to recover “emotionally” after each one.

“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.”