Daniel Craig has spoken out about his time on Quantum of Solace and recently referred to the process of making the film as a “sh-t show.” The actor is currently preparing for the release of No Time to Die, which will wrap up his time as James Bond. Currently, Craig has the longest continuous tenure of any actor in the role. Daniel Craig first stepped into the role of James Bond back in 2006 with the debut of Casino Royale.

A full reboot and origin story in the vein of Batman Begins, Casino Royale presented audiences with a younger and less experienced Bond. That film’s story picked back up in 2008 with the debut of Quantum of Solace, which started mere minutes after the conclusion of Casino Royale and saw Bond take on the mysterious organization known as Quantum in a quest for revenge following the death of Vesper Lynd (Eva Green). At the time of its release, the film wasn’t received as well as Casino Royale, and the Quantum-focused storyline was largely dropped when the franchise pivoted to Skyfall in 2012. Eventually, the series did some minor retconning by the time Spectre debuted in 2015, revealing that Quantum was a subdivision of the larger SPECTRE terrorist organization.

Related: Where To Watch Daniel Craig's Bond Movies Online Before No Time To Die

With his time as James Bond almost at an end, Daniel Craig has started to look back on his tenure as the suave British super spy. In a recent interview on The Empire Film Podcast, Craig admitted that the weight of playing James Bond didn’t hit him until Quantum of Solace, which impacted his performance in ways that he didn’t experience on Casino Royale. Craig said:

I would sort of yearn the person I was when I did ‘Casino.’ Too much knowledge sometimes is not a good thing. I was sort of in the dark about a lot of things, about how things worked, the mechanics of it. How the world really viewed Bond, all of those things I was just didn’t understand them. Then I started to understand them, the weight of it sort of bore down. The trouble with [‘Quantum of Solace’], it was a bit of a shit-show, to say the least, the full weight of it was there I kind of think that made me probably lock up. Thankfully, for me, it’s been about loosening it and loosening it and trying to get back to that feeling of ‘Casino,’ which was ‘It’s James Bond, come on, enjoy yourself. Let’s have a good time.

Felix Leiter Quantum Of Solace

Of course, it’s worth mentioning the fact that Quantum of Solace arguably had other issues to contend with beyond Craig locking up. The film had numerous problems during its production, not the least of which was the fact that it started shooting without a finalized story due to a writer’s strike. As such, both Craig and the producers behind the film have made no secret of the fact that they don’t think it lives up to the high bar established by Casino Royale.

As Craig seems to understand what went wrong for him on Quantum of Solace, there’s plenty of reasons to be excited about what he has in store for his latest Bond movie. With the finale of his Bond tenure on the horizon, Craig has made no secret of the fact that he’s proud of No Time To Die, which should (in theory) assure fans that he found a way to return to that loose place he thrived in while making Casino Royale. Moreover, early reviews for No Time To Die seem to promise a strong exit for the icon. Audiences can catch Daniel Craig’s final go-around as James Bond when No Time to Die hits theater next week on October 8.

Next: James Bond Movies In Order: The Best Way To Watch

Source: The Empire Film Podcast

Key Release Dates