In one dramatic scene, Craig fights on top of a train travelling 50 miles an hour. He was secured by a wire, but it still makes you wonder: What's in him that makes him agree to do stunts?
"I'm given the chance to do it and we'll get that one shot which reads and isn't CGI and isn't any of the other things, the special effects that we have to do with a lot of other stuff. And you go, 'That's me doing it!' And, for me, I get a kick out of that," Craig said.
For Craig, shying away from action is also simply out of character.
"It's a fantasy. It's Bond," Craig said. "You never forget that. It's the fun that you have in all Bond movies. But there's sort of a center which is kind of real. You got to kind of create that reality, however, you know, crazy and extraordinary it is. You've got to kind of create it and stick to it and be consistent about it."
In this adventure, 007 is after a villain out for revenge, played by Javier Bardem, and Judi Dench is back for her seventh time as M.
"She's one of the best that's ever been," Craig said of Dench. "You know, so I get the chance to work with her and she's very -- she's very funny. She's very wicked."
Craig is enjoying what he considers a modern and relevant Bond film, and he was up for the challenge. He says he is physically in better shape now than he was in the first Bond movie.
"Yeah yeah, I am. I know. I don't know how I'm going to maintain that for the next two but I'll try," he said.
"Skyfall" is the 23rd movie in the James Bond series, Hollywood's longest-running film franchise. As of Thursday, it's also the highest-grossing film in Britain for 2012 earning just under $100 million.
Craig was honored Wednesday night in Beverly Hills by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles, also known as BAFTA. He received the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year.
