The best James Bond: Every actor who’s played 007, ranked

5. Daniel Craig (2006-2020)

Casino Royale did a great job of reigniting the franchise. It’s just too bad the man they got to play the role has been a bit of a diva about the entire ordeal, which takes its toll on the overall performance. It was clear the actor had grown tired of playing the character even though its the most prominent role of his career that paved the way for him to land such projects as Knives Out. Craig pretty much slept his way through Spectre and claimed he would rather slash his wrists than portray the super-spy on the silver screen again. After dragging his feet for a while, No Time To Die will be his last outing with a licensed to kill.

The problem with Craig’s take is he can’t decide whether to be the gritty James Bond they’ve been developing since 2006’s Casino Royale or a watered-down, campy Roger Moore-esque version. This Bond is played more like a blunt object than a suave, sophisticated, smooth operator fans expect to see. The attempt to give the guy more substance and depth isn’t very well executed. As soon as he stops feeling sad and sorry for himself, Craig’s 007 activates like a Terminator proceeding to kill all the bad guys like he’s playing GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64 on the easiest difficulty. It also doesn’t help things that he also looks like an upset baby most of the time, making him one of the most overrated individuals ever to sip a martini shaken, not stirred.