So there we were at the Crosby Street Hotel, and Daniel Craig’s sharing his concerns about being James Bond for the 21st century. Skyfall marks his third outing as the debonair, martini-drinking, womanising spy. And, according to Craig, all he wanted to do was “to make a good movie … and leave something to remember”.

“(If) you think about the pressure of 50 years ... they just cripple you. And you don’t want to be crippled. You kind of want to be free to do what you want to do, you know?”

Not really, because I wasn’t really listening. All I could see were his sexy, muscular arms and those famous beguilingly blue eyes. It’s hard not to be engulfed by his effortless sexual magnetism when you’re sitting across from him — even if this is the third time I’ve talked to him.

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?” he said, as I entered the room.

Why, yes, Mr Bond.

The 44-year-old actor might arguably be the best Bond since Sean Connery, but any polished sophistication one would expect from him disappears when he starts, peppering almost every sentence with a big ol’ expletive. Which, of course, is why we love him.

I tell him that a bunch of reporters felt there was not enough sex in Skyfall.

“Oh well, sorry,” he shot back with a smile. “It was for our ratings. You’ll have to talk to Sam (Mendes, the director) for that.”

Do you enjoy wearing those dapper Bond suits?

Daniel Craig: I love them. There’s a great story about a designer, I think on Goldfinger, who told Sean Connery to take the suit and sleep in it. And it’s true. It’s a really good suit. And if you do sleep in it — which I happen to do in mine because I have 10 minutes free on set and go lie down in it — it kind of gets better. It sort of starts to fit you better. I love tailoring. My grandfather was a tailor so I kind of have a little bit of a fascination about it. When you see it done beautifully and it fits — oohh ... The thing is, now I’m spoilt. Someone hands me a jacket and I’m like, “Er, who made this? It doesn’t quite fit!” (Laughs)

Do you get to keep the suits?

Yeah I do! I keep a collection of suits for charity. I sign them so we can raise money for charity.

There was that recent big auction of those blue trunks you wore in Casino Royale. What do you feel about that?

It was amazing, just fantastic. All I care about is that we raised a tonne of money. I don’t really care much about the trunks themselves. But a really generous person came along and gave us that money ... I think we raised US$1.5 million (S$1.8 million) or something crazy like that. So it was a really successful evening.

Do you get nervous about audience reactions ?

Of course, I do. That’s the reason we make these movies — it’s for people to go see it. We don’t make it to stick it in a box somewhere. It’s got to go out there and people got to go watch it so ... I get nervous. Obviously, I want there to be a good reaction. But at this stage, there is nothing I can do. I’ve done all I can. I’ve worked as hard as I possibly could — we all did — so now it’s just the question of seeing what happens.

Do you feel the pressure of playing Bond on its 50th anniversary?

All you can do is block it out, you just can’t think about it. What I do remember saying to Barbara (Broccoli, Skyfall producer), Sam and to everyone, was, “We’ve got the next 50 years ... we’ve got to make the best one we can!” And to have something that really represents, something that we can go, “Yup! We marked it well!” I mean that would have been a shame if we didn’t ... I think it’s a beautiful movie and stands up with the rest of them.

Did you do your own stunts?

A lot of them. But I don’t want to kind of say, “Yeah, I did all my own stunts!” I literally have a team of people who make me look good. And I do as much as I can. When you see me there, when I’m on top of a train, that’s me! But there’s other stuff … and I don’t want to give the secrets away. But, one, I would get hurt, and two, I can’t do it. So let’s get somebody in who can.

Is there anything about James Bond that you envy?

Erm ... no. Maybe lock-picking?

Skyfall is in cinemas now.