James Bond: George Lazenby ‘Daniel Craig making a pile of money for 007 makes me JEALOUS'
JAMES BOND star George Lazenby, who played 007 in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, has admitted he’s a little jealous of Daniel Craig’s large salaries.
The Aussie actor famously only played 007 once in the 1969 movie, admitting his feeling about Craig’s paycheque in a recent interview about his new documentary, Becoming Bond.
When asked who he would like to play the next James Bond after Craig, he told USA Today: “I don't see that many movies anymore, I'm not current on all this stuff.
“I know Craig will get paid a pile of money if he wants to do another one, and that makes me a little jealous.
“But I can't think of anybody. It's the somebody who's got their stuff together and feels secure in their own shoes. I was silly enough to feel that way.”
The source of Lazenby’s jealously maybe not just be to do with the rumoured £120 million Craig has been offered to return as Bond, but the fact that he personally turned down a deal for more Bond movies.
Speaking with The Guardian, he previously admitted: “I had advice that James Bond was over anyway.
“It was Sean Connery’s gig and, being in the sixties, it was love, not war. You know, hippy time. And I bought into that.
“They also said, ‘There’s a guy called Clint Eastwood doing movies in Italy, getting 500 grand for a month, for doing a western.’
“They said, ‘You could do that’. So I didn’t feel like I was losing the million dollars.”
In another interview with the Daily Beast, he added: “Do I have any regrets? Only when I was broke. But I did a Bond film, and that’s all you have to do.
“After that, when I was broke a couple of times, I thought, sh**, I should have done another Bond movie. But I thought about how my life would be like if it continued.
“I’d have had three wives in Beverly Hills, mansions, and been a drug addict. I thought, well, I think I did the right thing.”
