Daniel Craig has called out Stephen Colbert for mispronouncing his name over the years.
The 56-year-old actor made the clarifications about his name during Monday’s (December 2) episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. During the segment, Craig explained the correct way to pronounce his last name, since Colbert had said it wrong in the past.
“I have a bone to pick with you,” Craig said, prompting Colbert to ask: “You have a bone to pick with me?”
“Yeah. Six shows, say my name,” the Knives Out star responded. After Colbert said his name, Craig said: “Oh, now you’re doing it right.”
Colbert questioned if he’d said Craig’s name wrong earlier, asking: “Why, did I say, ‘Creg?’”
The No Time to Die star then confirmed that Colbert said his name wrong the last six times the actor was on the show. “It’s a diphthong. I don’t say, ‘Colbet,’” Craig replied, referring to a speech that combines two vowel sounds within the same syllable.
As the audience laughed in response, Colbert attempted to pronounce the name correctly, saying: “‘Daniel… Craig.’ Did I not say, ‘Daniel Craig?’”
The Queer star repeated the mispronunciation, saying: “‘Daniel Creg’… you don’t hear the difference.”
After Colbert asked the actor to explain how to pronounce his name “one more time,” Craig repeated the correct pronunciation of his name followed by the wrong pronunciation for the TV host. “Ooh, I hear the difference. That is subtle,” Colbert responded. “And I apologize.”
Craig expressed his gratitude for the apology, before Colbert hilariously chimed in again: “I don’t want you, Daniel Craig, to be mad at me.”
“Daniel Creg [sic], f*** that guy,” the talk show host continued. “Daniel Craig, I am so sorry. Please accept my apology.”
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He shook Craig’s hand and asked if he’d been making this mistake the last six times the actor has appeared on the Late Show. Craig nodded and hilariously hit the table, before saying: “It’s fine… it’s fine, whatever.”
Colbert then made the offer that Craig could pronounce his name as “Cole-bert” rather than “Cole-bear.”
The Skyfall star appeared on the late night talk show to discuss his new film, Queer. The movie, in which Craig stars alongside Outer Banks actor Drew Starkey, hits theaters on December 13.
While doing press for the Luca Guadagnino-directed film, he’s also looked back at some of his iconic projects, including his stint as James Bond. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Craig admitted it was a “f***ing nightmare” making his second Bond film, Quantum of Solace, as he was mostly without a script when cameras started rolling.
“We should never have started production,” he said. He then made a revelation that he “probably shouldn’t say,” claiming he ended up “writing a lot of lines” for the film.
While the movie has been reappraised in recent years, Craig does not class himself as one of its fans.
“There are some amazing stunt sequences in it but it just didn’t quite work. The storytelling wasn’t there. That’s a lesson — starting a movie without a script is not a good idea,” he said.
Next year, Craig will reprise the role of sleuth Benoit Blanc in a third Knives Out film, the trailer of which shocked viewers thanks to the actor’s unrecognizable new hairdo.