Daniel Craig says two more 007 films and he will `get on with the rest of his life`

James Bond star Daniel Craig admits he spent three months on a bodybuilding regime to look like a man licensed to kill � and, I can tell you, his new physique left me shaken and stirred - reports Polly Graham for The News of the World.

As well as being blue-eyed, blond and gorgeous � as befits the suave superspy � he is now an imposing 5ft 11ins of mega-toned muscle.

Daniel says candidly: "I wanted to look like Bond could kill somebody. I'm not trying to be extra tough, but I wanted to look physically big.

"I got a personal trainer. I wanted to bulk up quickly so I did a lot of weights and had a high-protein diet."

The hard work paid off�as the world saw in March when Daniel was pictured coming out of the surf during filming of Casino Royale in the Bahamas.

But Daniel, 38, acknowledges he's still having a hard time convincing Bond fans he's no wimp and IS the man to take over from Pierce Brosnan.

Daniel was dubbed a sissy for wearing a lifejacket on the speedboat that took him to his first Bond press conference, and a website set up to plead for Brosnan's return even rubbishes Daniel for being unable to drive a manual car, which he vehemently denies.

But the fans' biggest gripe seems to be that they don't want a blond Bond � and Daniel refuses to live and let dye. "It kind of affected me. However, I was prepared for it � the blond thing," he admits with an exasperated shrug.

"I know there are a lot of fans out there to whom James Bond is incredibly important. I want to make it clear he is incredibly important to me as well."

Casino Royale � out this autumn � was the first of Ian Fleming's Bond stories and shows how 007 turned into the lady-killing superspy.

Daniel warns Bond fans to expect something a bit different. "We go back to the beginning. He is a raw character. He's someone who's extremely violent. It's got all the elements you'd expect, but it's darker and more violent," he says. One particularly gruesome scene is guaranteed to get lads' eyes watering as henchmen give our hero's privates a pounding.

And Daniel doesn't mind admitting filming left him battered and bruised: "I hurt myself every day when we were doing action sequences.

"But I had four stunt doubles and they were dealing with injuries all the time.

"All of it was very physically demanding. I could say now that I would go back and do it again, now that my body's recovered.

"But there was a time when I was 150 feet up, fighting, with my arms aching and I was thinking, �Just get me off this ******g thing!' But now I'd love to do it again."

Just as well, seeing as he's secured a deal for another two Bond films. "I've signed up for two more, and then I can get on with my life!" he says.

Daniel is getting �8million for the three films. That's a third of what Brosnan was paid for his last Bond outing alone, but Daniel is not worried. He says: "It's very poor taste to talk about money. Needless to say, I'm very happy with my deal."

Not surprisingly, his love life is almost as, er, colourful as Bond's. He was exposed for having an affair with his Layer Cake co-star Sienna Miller while she was dating his pal Jude Law and is rumoured to have had a fling with troubled supermodel Kate Moss.

He was married for four years to actress Fiona Loudon, with whom he has a 12-year-old daughter, but at the moment is romancing 29-year-old film producer Satsuki Mitchell, who he has been dating for several months.

While he's guarded about his personal life, Daniel does let slip that he was instrumental in getting French actress Eva Green hired for the role of Vesper Lynd after doing several steamy auditions with her.

"Eva just has a mystery about her and that was what was needed," he says.

Bond falls for Vesper in a big way, but Daniel reveals: "He gets his heart broken because he gets double crossed. It creates this person who is no longer emotional, but is actually going to go out for revenge."

So who is Daniel's favourite Bond then?

He says: "When I went to the cinema for the first time it was Roger Moore's Live And Let Die, which was a fantastic movie.

"But Sean Connery defined the role and one of my favourite movies is From Russia With Love � particularly because Robert Shaw plays the bad guy...

"And he's blond!"

Thanks to `Steve` & `Jeff` for the alerts.

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