<p class="title">Daniel Craig, whose final outing as 007 was unveiled on Thursday, is the longest-serving James Bond -- but perhaps not always the most enthusiastic.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 51-year-old's fifth movie as the British super spy is due for release early next year, 14 years after 2006's "Casino Royale".</p>.<p class="bodytext">There were initially doubts about the casting of the British actor -- not least the fact he was blond.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But he brought both a new ruthlessness and an emotional vulnerability to the character that audiences have warmed to -- and have proved box office gold.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For a while, it seemed that 2015's "Spectre" would be his last outing as Ian Fleming's super cool intelligence agent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Exhausted by a gruelling shoot, he said he would "rather slash my wrists" than be Bond again.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The actor, who has required surgery on his shoulder and knees over the years due to injuries sustained by doing his own stunts, later said that he had just "needed a break".</p>.<p class="bodytext">But his comments revealed at least an ambivalence about the all-consuming role from a man who guards his privacy closely.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When he was first named in 2005 to succeed Pierce Brosnan as the sixth incarnation of Bond, many questioned whether the blond-haired, blue-eyed, gym-sculpted Craig was the right man for the job.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Even Sam Mendes, the director of "Spectre" who also worked with Craig on 2002's "Road To Perdition", was sceptical.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I thought Bond had become the opposite of what Daniel is -- a slightly disengaged, urbane, jokey, eyebrow-raising, you know, a pastiche in a way," he told the BBC.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the intensity Craig brings to the part has allowed the multi-million dollar franchise to be rebooted with a harder, more serious edge.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The late Roger Moore, who played Bond seven times between 1973 and 1985, called Craig the best Bond ever.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He told Time magazine that his performances had "guaranteed Bond another 50 years of life".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Despite the fame that comes with such a huge film role, Craig likes to keep his private life private.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He is married to Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz, star of "The Constant Gardener" and "The Favourite", with whom he has a daughter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But their wedding in 2011 was attended by just four guests, including his daughter from a previous marriage, and her son with her ex-partner.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Born in 1968 in Chester, northwest England, to a pub landlord father and art teacher mother, Craig started acting at an early age.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He attended drama school in London and had a string of roles in television, art house cinema and on stage before breaking through in Hollywood with films like 2001's "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Craig has always insisted his own personality is a long way from the tuxedo-wearing, Martini-drinking Bond.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In real life, he prefers jeans, a T-shirt and a cold beer in the pub.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Shortly after the birth of his daughter with Weisz, he was pictured carrying her in a sling on his front, looking tired and unshaven.</p>.<p class="bodytext">British TV host Piers Morgan lashed out at the image, with the Twitter hashtag #emasculatedBond, but his comments sparked a backlash on social media.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Between Bond films, Craig has chosen roles far removed from the suave spy, including an acclaimed 2013 Broadway production of Harold Pinter's "Betrayal" with Weisz.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm not James Bond," he once told Esquire magazine. "I'm not particularly brave, I'm not particularly cool-headed."</p>.<p class="bodytext">He added: "The day I can walk into a pub and someone goes, 'Oh, there's Daniel Craig' and then just leaves me alone, that'll be great."</p>
<p class="title">Daniel Craig, whose final outing as 007 was unveiled on Thursday, is the longest-serving James Bond -- but perhaps not always the most enthusiastic.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 51-year-old's fifth movie as the British super spy is due for release early next year, 14 years after 2006's "Casino Royale".</p>.<p class="bodytext">There were initially doubts about the casting of the British actor -- not least the fact he was blond.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But he brought both a new ruthlessness and an emotional vulnerability to the character that audiences have warmed to -- and have proved box office gold.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For a while, it seemed that 2015's "Spectre" would be his last outing as Ian Fleming's super cool intelligence agent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Exhausted by a gruelling shoot, he said he would "rather slash my wrists" than be Bond again.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The actor, who has required surgery on his shoulder and knees over the years due to injuries sustained by doing his own stunts, later said that he had just "needed a break".</p>.<p class="bodytext">But his comments revealed at least an ambivalence about the all-consuming role from a man who guards his privacy closely.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When he was first named in 2005 to succeed Pierce Brosnan as the sixth incarnation of Bond, many questioned whether the blond-haired, blue-eyed, gym-sculpted Craig was the right man for the job.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Even Sam Mendes, the director of "Spectre" who also worked with Craig on 2002's "Road To Perdition", was sceptical.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I thought Bond had become the opposite of what Daniel is -- a slightly disengaged, urbane, jokey, eyebrow-raising, you know, a pastiche in a way," he told the BBC.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the intensity Craig brings to the part has allowed the multi-million dollar franchise to be rebooted with a harder, more serious edge.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The late Roger Moore, who played Bond seven times between 1973 and 1985, called Craig the best Bond ever.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He told Time magazine that his performances had "guaranteed Bond another 50 years of life".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Despite the fame that comes with such a huge film role, Craig likes to keep his private life private.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He is married to Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz, star of "The Constant Gardener" and "The Favourite", with whom he has a daughter.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But their wedding in 2011 was attended by just four guests, including his daughter from a previous marriage, and her son with her ex-partner.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Born in 1968 in Chester, northwest England, to a pub landlord father and art teacher mother, Craig started acting at an early age.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He attended drama school in London and had a string of roles in television, art house cinema and on stage before breaking through in Hollywood with films like 2001's "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Craig has always insisted his own personality is a long way from the tuxedo-wearing, Martini-drinking Bond.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In real life, he prefers jeans, a T-shirt and a cold beer in the pub.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Shortly after the birth of his daughter with Weisz, he was pictured carrying her in a sling on his front, looking tired and unshaven.</p>.<p class="bodytext">British TV host Piers Morgan lashed out at the image, with the Twitter hashtag #emasculatedBond, but his comments sparked a backlash on social media.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Between Bond films, Craig has chosen roles far removed from the suave spy, including an acclaimed 2013 Broadway production of Harold Pinter's "Betrayal" with Weisz.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm not James Bond," he once told Esquire magazine. "I'm not particularly brave, I'm not particularly cool-headed."</p>.<p class="bodytext">He added: "The day I can walk into a pub and someone goes, 'Oh, there's Daniel Craig' and then just leaves me alone, that'll be great."</p>