Craig happy 'Quantum' followed up 'Royale'

NEW YORK, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- British actor Daniel Craig says he is pleased "Quantum of Solace" was made as a sequel to "Casino Royale" because he felt there was still more story to tell.

"Quantum of Solace," in which Craig reprises his "Royale" role of secret agent James Bond, was No. 1 at the U.S. box office this past weekend. The new movie picks up where the previous 007 flick left off, as opposed to sending Bond off on an unrelated adventure.

"We all wanted to continue this story (we started in 'Royale.') We wanted to finish this story off," Craig told UPI in New York recently. "We had unpicked the onion skins of this organization -- the bad guys, and he'd fallen in love and he was going to run off and go give up his job. So that kind of colliding, and Vespa's death, we wanted to finish off. So, hopefully, by the end of 'Quantum of Solace,' we've got this kind of whole character and now we can do what we want."

The actor admitted the increasingly spectacular stunts in the Bond movies can be a bit daunting, but insisted he tries to do what he can himself to maintain the sense of reality for moviegoers.

"So there I find myself jumping out of a 30-foot window onto the top of a bus in Italy, going, 'What the hell's just happened to my life?'" he laughed. "But I think it's an intrinsic part of the movie. I selfishly want the audience not to snap out of the action. I want them to go, 'Oh, it's him!'"