Daniel Craig has confessed that he originally found the prospect of taking on the role of James Bond “very scary,” but knew that if he didn’t accept, he would later “regret it”.

The 53-year-old is the longest serving actor to hold the role having first appeared as 007 in 2006’s Casino Royale, before bowing out with his fifth and final outing in 2021’s No Time To Die.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, the Brit star admitted: “I did it knowing it would change my life.

“I knew that it would flip it and that there would be no going back to who I was or what I was, either personally or professionally. And that was very, very, very scary,” he continued.

“It felt like I was risking something – I didn’t know what that was, but I was risking something. But the decision I made, at the end of the day, was that if I didn’t do it, I’ll regret it.”

The star added that despite a poor first performance at a press conference, which he described as “a f*****g train wreck,” he had never doubted that he had made the right decision.

Despite numerous delays to release due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, No Time To Die has gone on to become a box office smash with Oscars buzz around it.

Craig was also recognised last year with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was recently made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George – the same honour bestowed upon his on-screen persona in the Bond books by Ian Fleming – for services to film and theatre in Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year Honours list.