Daniel Craig refuses to rule out leaving role of James Bond

Daniel Craig has denied suggestions he is ready to step down as James Bond, telling the BBC he has not yet made a decision on his future as 007.

Craig fuelled speculation he might make way for another actor earlier this month after telling Time Out he would rather “slash my wrists” than shoot a follow-up to the imminently released Spectre, which has drawn rapturous reviews and is out in the UK on Monday. Bookmaker William Hill said on Thursday that it had suspended betting on the 47-year-old British actor leaving the role of the suave super-spy following the release of Sam Mendes’ second stint in the director’s chair.

But Craig told the BBC’s Lizo Mzimba he may have spoken too soon. “I’m quite straightforward and I say things when I feel it and then I change my mind,” he said. “I’m just like everybody else. People latch onto things. There’s not a lot I can do about that.”

Craig said taking a producer’s credit on Spectre for the first time had made the experience a “high point” of his four-film career as Bond. He said he accepted the gruelling nature of the job. “I knew when I accepted the role that it would turn my life upside down and it did. There’s no getting away from it. I’m still enjoying it much more than I ever did because I’ve been allowed to bring what I know to the role. I’ve been involved with every aspect of filmmaking.”

But asked if he had made a decision about continuing as Bond, Craig said: “No — this is what’s going on at the moment. I’m enjoying this.”

In a separate interview with BBC Radio One, the actor revealed the toll which Bond films take on his loved ones. “I’m away from home for eight months. There’s no other way of doing it. My family hate me,” he said. “They’re just starting to forgive me now.” He also revealed Mendes only finished the edit for Spectre on Saturday. “It’s one of the wettest prints there’s been, because we release it on Monday,” said the actor.

Spectre stars Craig opposite double Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz, as the villainous Franz Oberhauser. The cast also features newcomers Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux, plus the returning Ralph Fiennes (as the new M), Naomie Harris (Moneypenny) and Ben Whishaw (Q). Studios Sony and MGM will be hoping the film can challenge recent Bond outing Skyfall, which made $1.1m (Dh4 million) in 2012, for the mantle of highest-grossing film of the long-running spy saga and the UK’s highest-grossing film of all time.

Spectre is out in the UAE on November 6.