Daniel Craig on dealing with the popularity of James Bond within a smaller budget for The Golden Compass:

"At two hundred million dollars, it really was scaled down [laughs], [and] the fact that the Bond movies are out, they were. They're great movies. I mean, I've watched all of them - they're really... they really work. But for me I wanted, my basis and what I kind of wanted is that I'm a fan of, the very early Bond movies, the early Sean Connery's, Dr. No, and From Russia With Love and I wanted to put it back in that mold. And whatever you do, you know, these are Bond movies: there has to be an element of style, there has to be an element of something that's quintessentially James Bond about the movies. I could name any influence that's happened over the last thirty years that's influenced my decision and my feelings about Casino Royale, but James Bond is James Bond."

Craig on the impact of The Golden Compass:

"Well, just that it's a great piece of writing. Philip Pullman's a really talented writer, he's a brilliant writer. And the message that the books, for me, were putting across I think I would want children to read. They're about keeping promises, about being faithful, finding good friends, keeping them, and being supportive, and fighting for the right causes. And that, you know, the classic book, Philip Pullman what he's done is he's used it to tell, children's books to write very adult themes. And I - they just appeal to me. More than appeal to me, I think they're kind of fundamental."

On whether it was a coincidence working with Eva Green again so close to Casino Royale:

"No, she's in every movie I make from now on. [laughs] It's contractual. Just is, no, and she was great, great casting, she plays, as is Nicole. I couldn't have thought of a better Mrs. Coulter."

Craig on the tweed suit he wears in The Golden Compass:

"It's always a kind of a conversation Ruth Meyers and I had; long conversations about it, just about the way we want to look at it. But we kind of based it upon, Chris and everybody, we kind of based it upon Shackleton. Shackleton, who sort of, an English gentleman but with a twist to it... We have long conversations about that sort of thing I mean that's kind of part of the process. The shoes, I chose the shoes. [laughs]."

On how he feels about science fiction and fantasy films:

"I've been a big fan of, I mean I'm not a huge fan of science fiction novels, but I've always read them, steadily read them over the [years] since I was a child. You know as well as I do that any good science fiction writing or fantasy novel has a very strong message somewhere in them and is using the backdrop of a fantasy world to highlight that and extend into it. And this is no different. The messages and the things about Lyra's life, about this young lady is what I love so much about this is that the lead character is a girl and it's about her struggle into adulthood. And if you read the books, that's very much what the stories are about. And, you know, we do have a tradition in this country, I mean, with Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis there is a huge tradition of fantasy story telling, usually with a very strong point behind it. And I think Philip Pullman's books are no different."

Daniel Craig Interview Page 2