"I’m just very excited. These sort of things happen once in a lifetime and I’m just trying to enjoy it."

Asked how the latest Bond compares to the others he replied: "It’s not up to me to compare them. Casino Royale is still a Bond movie and there’s a love story."

Hundreds of media from around the world were camped in Leicester Square and the new Bond spent his time signing autographs and posing for snaps from camera phones and being interviewed by broadcasters from countries such as Germany and Japan.

Bond audition was ’torture’ - Nov 9 2006
Most men would kill for the chance to play Bond - and according to Daniel Craig, the audition was almost that tough.

The 38-year-old, who has received rave reviews for his debut as the famous spy, said the screen test for Casino Royale was "eight hours of torture".

He told Virgin Radio: "We did two scenes, classically, I hate them for it. They have this tradition when you have to do the scene from with Russia With Love, when he goes into the bedroom and she’s lying on the bed in blue and they are filming from behind.

"We had to do that scene and a scene from the new movie. It was a day’s filming and it was eight hours of torture."

And he joked that he had stand-ins for the obligatory Bond sex scenes, quipping that it was "stunt men all the way" and that he had "four or five" stunt penises for the role.

The actor’s love interest in the film is French beauty Eva Green, 26 - although he also had words of praise for 71-year-old Judi Dench who reprises her role as Bond’s boss M.

"It was a lifelong ambition [to work with her] and she has the naughtiest eyes in showbusiness.

"She looks you straight in the eye and she is stunning."

Bond image shaken and stirred by gay kiss - Sept 1 2006
Actor Daniel Craig has dealt a blow to his James Bond image with a gay kiss in his latest film, which co-stars Speed actress Sandra Bullock. In Infamous, Daniel plays convicted killer Perry Smith, who develops a relationship with author Truman Capote. One of the final scenes shows the pair sharing a passionate kiss in Smith’s prison cell.

British actor Toby Jones, who plays Capote, joked: "I had never dreamed I would kiss James Bond. It’s not something I would ever aspire to. Now that I’ve done it, I hope I’m the first of many. It was slightly abrasive, but ultimately rewarding. And neither of us are gay."

He explained: "I thought it was going to be the really gruelling part of the movie. But it was fantastic to work with Daniel because as an English actor there’s a kind of humour that goes with those scenes. You take it seriously but you also find a way to deal with it."

Toby was speaking in Venice, where Infamous received its world premiere. Both Craig and Jones are being touted as Oscar contenders for their performances. To ensure he got Capote’s unique voice right, Mrs Henderson Presents star Toby remained in character throughout filming.

Co-star Sandra, who plays Capote’s oldest friend and fellow author Harper Lee, said at the Venice press conference: "I had never really met Toby until today. I never knew what he really sounded like or acted like."

Daniel Craig has begged James Bond fans not to hate him - Aug 14 2006
The British actor - who plays the suave spy in the new 007 film ’Casino Royale’ - insists he does not deserve the criticism he has received from die-hard Bond fans who are angry he has been cast as the iconic character.