Benoit Blanc Makes Serious Bank! Inside Daniel Craig's Net Worth and How He Earned It
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More like James Stocks and Bonds, am I right?
Daniel Craig's net worth is massive, and it's no mystery why—you don't need to be Benoit Blanc to figure that out.
Craig has long been known as a critically acclaimed actor, but it wasn't until he started playing James Bond that he became a household name—and one of the highest-paid actors on the planet to boot. Still, he insisted that he sees the 007 gig as just that: a job.
"All I really wanted to do was make a living out of it," Craig told The New York Times about acting in September 2021. "I wanted not to have to wait on tables, which I'd been doing since I was 16. I figured that if I could do it and pay the rent, then I was a success. Believe me, I'm completely a mere mortal." He added, "I feel like a normal human being most of the time. I don’t feel any connection to the characters I play. I mean at all. They're just that."
He took five years off between his last two Bond films, Spectre and No Time to Die, largely because his body went through the wringer throughout the series, with Craig suffering from a series of injuries while shooting the franchise.
"I was never going to do one again," he said. "I was like, 'Is this work really genuinely worth this, to go through this, this whole thing?' And I didn't feel… I felt physically really low. So the prospect of doing another movie was just like, it was off the cards. And that's why it has been five years."
In terms of playing Bond, Craig went into the job with a vision that he stuck to throughout all five films.
"There's a consistency which I wanted to put into it. Maybe I'll be remembered as the Grumpy Bond," he cracked. "I don't know. That's just my Bond and I have to face up to it, that has been my Bond. But I'm quite satisfied with that."
That said, Craig has made big bucks playing Bond. Find out Daniel Craig's net worth and how he earned it!
What is Daniel Craig's net worth in 2023?
As of January 2023, Craig has an estimated net worth of $160 million.
What did Daniel Craig do before acting?
Craig always wanted to be an actor. When he was just 6 years old, he started appearing in school plays and local productions. He also played rugby and worked part-time in restaurants to make ends meet and pay for his education at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before becoming a regular working actor.
Related: Everything to Know About Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
What did Daniel Craig do before Bond?
Craig had an eclectic acting resumé pre-James Bond on both stage and screen.
In the early 1990s, his stage work including a starring role as Joe in Angels In America and a role in Les Grande Horizontales (where he'd meet the woman who's now his wife, Rachel Weisz). He had small TV roles in shows including Anglo Saxon Attitudes, Covington Cross, Zorro, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and Tales From the Crypt, among others. He played Master Kane in A Kid In King Arthur's Court in 1995 and as priest John Ballard in Elizabeth in 1998, the latter being a particularly strong breakout role for him.
Related: Everything We Know About Knives Out 3
His first blockbuster was alongside Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001, followed by another star turn in Road to Perdition the following year. He was critically acclaimed for Layer Cake, in which he played a gangster with Bond-like swagger—which Casino Royale director Martin Campbell says helped land him the iconic 007 role, beating out fellow Brit Henry Cavill.
Campbell told The Daily Express (via Huffington Post U.K.), "None of us making the casting decision were 100 percent sure. I needed a couple of days to think about it. Over that weekend I saw Daniel's film Layer Cake and he showed such terrific charm in that that it convinced me he should get the part."
Related: To Celebrate No Time to Die, Take a Look Back at Every Actor to Play James Bond
Is Daniel Craig the highest-paid actor?
Variety reported that Craig was the highest-paid actor for 2021—not because of Bond, but thanks to his deal with Netflix for Knives Out 2 and Knives Out 3, netting him a whopping $100 million.
How much did Daniel Craig get paid for No Time to Die?
Craig reportedly made $25 million for his final Bond film, No Time to Die. He may be eligible for more money on the back end of the deal if the box office returns are good. The reviews for the film, so far, have been stellar enough to predict some serious ticket sales, with an 89% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A star-studded supporting cast, including Oscar winner Rami Malek and It Girl Ana de Armas (who also starred alongside Craig in Knives Out)—plus a royal red carpet appearance at the London premiere from King Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Prince William and Kate Middleton—likely didn't hurt the hype, either.
Related: Ana de Armas' Net Worth Revealed
How much did Daniel Craig make for Skyfall?
Skyfall was the highest-grossing Bond film of all time, with a global box office gross of more than $1.1 billion. Craig reportedly had a $17 million salary for his third outing as Bond, plus $3 million in bonuses from box office grosses for a total of $20 million.
How much did Daniel Craig make for Knives Out?
Who could resist Craig swapping his British accent for his over-the-top southern drawl in Knives Out? Certainly not us. And it's no surprise he took the role, because he likely couldn't resist the reported over $100 million salary he received to play Detective Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and another upcoming sequel. His salary for the first film hasn't been publicly revealed.
How much did Daniel Craig get paid for Quantum of Solace?
Craig reportedly pocketed $7.2 million for his second Bond film, Quantum of Solace, in 2008. The film grossed $589,580,482 at the global box office.
How much did Daniel Craig get paid for Spectre?
Spectre made $880 million at the global box office; Craig reportedly raked in $27 million to play Bond in his third installment in the franchise—a $25 million base salary, plus extra backend earnings.
How much did Daniel Craig get paid for Casino Royale?
Craig was reportedly paid $3.2 million for his James Bond debut in Casino Royale in 2006. The movie made $616.5 million worldwide at the box office.
Related: The Ultimate List of James Bond Trivia
How much did Daniel Craig make from James Bond?
In total, Craig has made an estimated $82.4 million from playing James Bond in five movies.
What did Daniel Craig lose while filming Casino Royale?
Casino Royale brought Craig global fame and success, but it cost him two teeth!
The Mirror reported that Craig, who was 37 at the time of filming, had a bloody mouth after shooting a fight scene with minor actors, and that he didn't make "a fuss" about it at all and the incident didn't even delay filming.
"He put his hand to his mouth, but the blood started to seep through his fingers — it was horrible," an insider said. A dentist was brought to the set to replace Craig's two front teeth, and production went on as scheduled.
Who is the highest-paid James Bond actor?
Craig is the highest-paid actor to play James Bond, per The Guinness Book of World Records.
How many times has Daniel Craig been James Bond?
Craig has starred as James Bond five times total since 2006, and it's unlikely he'll change his mind about exiting the franchise after No Time to Die. In fact, in 2015, ahead of the release of Spectre, he said he'd only do more Bond films for the money, griping, "Now? I'd rather … slash my wrists [than do another Bond movie]. No, not at the moment. Not at all. That's fine. I'm over it at the moment. We're done. All I want to do is move on."
Still, he looks back on his time as Bond fondly, with a clip of his tearful speech at the wrap of filming No Time to Die going viral.
"I don't show myself to the world as much as maybe people would like, but that's my choice. It's got me probably into trouble and has made people make up their own minds about me. But I'm an incredibly emotional human being. I'm an actor. I mean, that's what I do for a living. And the clip you're talking about is the end of 15 years of my life that I’ve put everything I can into," he told The New York Times in September 2021. "I would be some kind of sociopath not to get a little bit choked up at the end of that. Hopefully, I'm no sociopath."
What is the order of the Daniel Craig James Bond movies?
In chronological order, Craig's James Bond movies are:
1. Casino Royale (2006)
2. Quantum of Solace (2008)
3. Skyfall (2012)
4. Spectre (2015)
5. No Time to Die (2021)
Related: A World of Women! The Best Bond Girls From the James Bond Films
What is Daniel Craig's best movie?
Of course, naming Craig's best movie would be completely subjective—so we'll let a consensus do the talking. According to Rotten Tomatoes, Craig's best-reviewed movie is Knives Out with a 97% Fresh rating, followed by his debut as Bond, Casino Royale, and 2005 drama Fateless, tied each with 94%, then Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery with 93%. Rounding out the list are Logan Lucky and Skyfall, each with a 92% Fresh rating.
According to Metacritic, Knives Out clocks in at first place with a score of 82, followed by Skyfall at 81, Casino Royale at 80, Logan Lucky at 78, Munich with 74, and Layer Cake at 73.
Is Daniel Craig married?
Craig has been married twice. He was married to Scottish actress Fiona Loudon from 1992 to 1994. He married Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz in 2011 in a small ceremony with just four guests: Two of their children and two family friends who served as witnesses.
Craig and Weisz connected on the set of the film Dream House in late 2010, and the couple were only together for six months before tying the knot. The 51-year-old, Oscar-winning Weisz admitted to The London Evening Standard's ES magazine, "I never thought I would get married. It was not an ambition of mine. It was the opposite. I couldn't relate to romantic comedies—marriage seems to be the whole point of them. Then it just happened, happily, at a more mature moment."
Who are Daniel Craig's children?
Craig has a daughter, Ella, with his ex Loudon, born in 1992. He also has a daughter with Weisz, born in 2018. He is stepfather to Weisz's son with director Darren Aronofsky, her former partner.
Craig has said he won't leave an inheritance for his children, saying he finds the practice "distasteful." He's also said, "Isn't there an old adage that if you die a rich person, you've failed? I think Andrew Carnegie gave away what in today’s money would be about $11 billion, which shows how rich he was because I'll bet he kept some of it, too. My philosophy is get rid of it or give it away before you go."
Next, We Rank All 25 James Bond Movies from Worst to Best — Including No Time to Die!
