Daniel Craig thought his second James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, was a “f**king nightmare.” In a recent episode of Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, the 56-year-old opened up on the “difficulty” he faced while filming the 2008 action film directed by Marc Forster.

Daniel Craig calls Quantum of Solace a ‘f**king nightmare’

Following his James Bond debut with the 2006 hit film Casino Royale, Craig found himself in a difficult position. Explaining how the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike took a toll on the production of his second Bond film, he said, “Paul Haggis did a pass on the script, then he went off and joined a picket line, and we didn’t have writers, so we didn’t have a script.”

“We probably should never have gone and started production, but we did,” Knives Out actor recalled before admitting that he was forced to write most of the script. “I ended up writing a lot of that film — I probably shouldn’t really say, and I do not want a credit, it’s fine — but we were in that state because that’s what we’re allowed to do. I was allowed to work,” Craig explained.

Despite raking in nearly $600 million at the global box office, Quantum of Solace is considered one of the worst Bond films of all time. Alongside Craig, the main cast included Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Giancarlo Giannini, Jeffrey Wright, and Judi Dench. In addition to the production and script setback the film received negative reviews from critics.

Craig went on to say, “Under WGA rules we were allowed to work with a director and write scenes. But there’s some amazing stunt sequences in that, and I’m still bearing the pins to prove it, so in that sense there’s a lot of great stuff in it, but it just didn’t quite work.” “The storytelling wasn’t there. And that’s the abject lesson: going to start a movie without a script, it’s just… not a good idea.”