Daniel Craig ran away after breaking Dave Bautista's nose on the set of Spectre
“He’s a lot tougher than I am," the 007 actor admitted. "I’ll give him that"
While James Bond always keeps a steely composure in the face of danger, actor Daniel Craig may not always be so stoic. During a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show ahead of the theater arrival of his final Bond venture No Time To Die, Craig revealed that while filming 2015's Spectre, he broke Dave Bautista’s nose during a fight scene. In Spectre, big bad Bautista played Bond’s foe the assassin Mr. Hinx, and fellow interviewee Rami Malek’s reaction to hearing Craig broke former wrestler Bautista’s nose summed up how many of us would feel in the same situation.
“I threw a punch and hit him on the nose,” Craig said. “I heard this crack and I was like ‘Oh God no’ and ran away. I thought he was going to come after me, but he was so sweet.”
Bautista took the punch like a champ, and, according to Craig, reset his nose and was ready to continue filming. “He’s a lot tougher than I am. I’ll give him that,” Craig said.
The scales were eventually balanced in another fight sequence where Bautista throws Craig against a wall. The Bond actor said he felt Bautista was being “gentle” with him, and challenged Bautista to be a little more rough, resulting in a knee injury, halting production.
“I ended up on the wall, but my knee was over here somewhere,” Craig said. “I knew and it was horrible because if anyone’s had a serious injury, you just know in your head that something is really wrong.”
He was not immune to injury on the set of No Time To Die as well, as he says he broke his ankle “literally walking down a plank.” As Craig’s time playing Bond runs out with No Time To Die, the search for the next 007 begins next year. “We want Daniel to have his time of celebration,” says producer Barbara Broccoli. “Next year we’ll start thinking about the future.”
On The Graham Norton Show, Craig admitted he will probably feel a little—or very—bitter toward his successor after playing Bond for the last fifteen years. “It’s been incredible to do these films,” Craig said. “It’s very emotional. I’m glad I am ending it on my own terms. I’m grateful to the producers for letting me do that. But I sure miss it. I’ll probably be incredibly bitter when the new person takes over.”
No Time to Die opens in theaters on October 8.