Daniel Craig on Rami Malek’s claim the pair kissed on James Bond shoot: ‘I’m a very friendly guy’
Malek said Craig ‘grabbed’ him and picked him up after he shared a good idea for the movie
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Louise Thomas
Editor
Daniel Craig has confirmed that he did in fact kiss Rami Malek during the filming of the new James Bond film, No Time to Die.
Malek, who plays the primary villain Safin in the movie, previously told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show that Craig had kissed him when he came up with a good idea for the film.
“He grabbed me, picked me up – and I can’t tell who initiated the next moment, whether it was him or I – but a kiss transpired between the two of us,” he said. “I’m going to say that Daniel initiated it, and I was very taken aback.”
He added that the kiss was very welcome and that, at the time, he asked Craig, “So, does this make me a Bond girl?”
Now, as the film shows in cinemas, Craig and Malek have spoken to Entertainment Weekly about the kiss.
“I kissed him, alright! I kiss lots of people,” Craig said. “It’s like, I’m a very friendly guy, and I wouldn’t rank anybody.
“That would be a terrible, terrible thing to do, to rank the best kissers. I would just... how many people could I offend? Terrible. Thousands, thousands of people.”
He added jokingly: “Listen, this story’s had legs about kissing Rami; I’ve just been trying to give it more legs. I don’t know if it’s on social media. I haven’t got social media, but I said I used to kiss Rami after the end of every scene. It’s like no big deal. God almighty. Just spreading the love.”
Malek quipped: “I would just rush through scenes just to get to that moment that you would get kissed.”
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No Time to Die, Craig’s last James Bond film, has broken British box office records.
Across its opening weekend, the film has grossed more money than any other Bond film in history and has already become the biggest film of the year.
Read The Independent’s review of the film here.
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