James Bond having a martini in his hand has been a staple of the character since his creation – but is 007 actually a better agent when he’s drunk? It’s that kind of profound question that James Bond actor and star of No Time To Die, Daniel Craig, is attempting to answer. When doing an interview, Craig was asked point-blank if Bond is better in action sober or “tipsy?” Well, rather than delve into all the particulars about how the human and body, mind, and reflexes respond to inebriation, Daniel Craig made a much simpler point:
“He’s never drunk,” Craig explains to Rotten Tomatoes. “He’s got quite a constitution.”
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One cannot drunkenly botch a mission if one is never drunk. Case solved.
In a more serious examination of the question, Daniel Craig actually made the point that he thinks it’s kind of an irrelevant question, as Bond’s alcohol consumption isn’t treated with any kind of real-world gravity (for better or worse):
“Listen, I think it’s a gag. It’s a running gag… And I feel like it’s a sort of nice gag , because of course it’s ridiculous. Nobody can drink that much an function and do all the things. But he’s James Bond!…. A really nice Russian journalist a few years ago made me a chart. And it’s all the Bonds, and all the drinks they’ve had. And I’m at the top. And I was like ‘Yep, that’s great.’”
That all said, Daniel Craig does recognize the real-world impact of drinking and is careful to separate the fantasy of James Bond from reality:
“…I’m not advocating people drinking at work for a second. It’s a really bad idea. But [Bond] it’s fun. It’s just fun. That’s all.”
Daniel Craig’s No Time To Die co-star (and the new 007) Lashana Lynch pointed out, there are action heroes who actually do benefit from a bit of drink, naming Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master film as one iconic example. Still, even the Drunken Master had to go through some pretty rough stuff while in his cups – so again, not highly recommended that any real person try to follow that route…
James Bond’s drinking is just one more element of Ian Fleming’s character that is debatably aging out of relevance – along with Bond’s penchant for womanizing, and his machismo attitude. Daniel Craig’s Bond has steadily tried to re-frame the character, to middling success. Guess we’ll have just have to keep count on how many drinks he throws back in No Time to Die…
James Bond: No Time To Die is now in theaters.
