BEVERLY HILLS — James Bond needs a day off.

In the latest 007 thriller, "Quantum of Solace," Daniel Craig continues to explore the depths of the iconic superspy, this time (his second) revealing a man consumed by his job.

It just so happens that his work is saving the world.

"It's no moral judgment," Craig says, sitting with his right arm in a sling, the result of 007 action work aggravating an old injury. "If there's ambiguity to the character, then you'll have a better time. It's as simple as that.

"There's no kind of self-conscious idea to make him a deep, meaningful human being. I just think, well, he's a spy and kills people for a living. There might be some consequences for him — and everybody around him."

By now it's well known that "Quantum" picks up moments after the conclusion of 2005's "Casino Royale," which rebooted the franchise.

In the sequel, Bond nearly self- destructs in his quest to uncover the Quantum organization behind the money-laundering in the original story. The lines of justice and revenge become so blurred, his own MI6 handlers fear he is too wrapped up in the mission to pull it off.

Craig, 40, jokingly compares his Bond's big flaw — total immersion in his duties — to the e-mail-checking, cell phone-addicted, always-on-call culture of the modern workplace.

"You're never away from the office. That's very true of people, isn't it?" he says. "We're driven to do that, and maybe that's wrong. Maybe we should all step back, put it down for an hour a day and be out of the office."

Craig adds: "That said, it is a Bond movie." His day job involves high-speed, cliff's-edge car chases, speedboat escapes and exploding desert hotels.

After six Bonds and 22 films, audiences still dig it. "Casino Royale" ultimately grossed $594 million worldwide, topping "Die Another Day's" $431 million record.

For all the exposure 007 has given Craig, his own life remains a kind of secret identity.

He has been divorced since 1994 and has a teenage daughter from that marriage, but he doesn't like to discuss her.

He has been in a relationship with film producer Satsuki Mitchell for several years, and was dogged during "Quantum" production by rumors of an engagement. His standard answer: He's not a member of the Royal Family, and therefore owes the public no confirmation or denial.

In contrast to his brooding Bond, Craig is animated and prone to jokes in person. He is hesitant to talk about his past but gradually opens up when talking about how his early experiences help shape his most famous character.

He grew up in Wirral, along the northwestern English coast outside Liverpool, a working-class area that was hit with economic troubles during his youth in the '80s. "I had a fairly relatively normal background. My parents are divorced, but that's hardly unusual," he says. "I was brought up by my mother and got into acting very early on, inspired by the fact that there's a fantastic art scene in Liverpool, good directors and great writers. That had an indelible impact on me."

School was more of a struggle. "I didn't have an academic persuasion at all," he says. "I was wandering slightly, as every teenager does, and my mother gave me a gentle nudge, and said, 'Go and do it, try and have a go.' " He left home at 16 to work in London theater.

007 made him a household name, but initially he resisted. His first meeting with Eon Productions' Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, whose family has overseen the Bond films since Sean Connery starred in the 1962 original "Dr. No," is one Craig describes as "a failure."

"I turned around and said, 'Thank you very much, but no,' " he says. "They joke about it now, but I genuinely was like, 'This is not even on my radar.' I never even considered in my professional life that I should play James Bond. All the reasons people thought I shouldn't play it, I thought, too. It's like, I'm blond. Why would you?"

They eventually won him over with "Casino Royale's" darker, more emotional take on the character, and he has since pushed to go even further: "Quantum" has an art-house-heavy roster of talent for a $230 million action film.

It was directed by Marc Forster, known for intimate dramas such as "Finding Neverland" and "Monster's Ball." Paul Haggis, Oscar-winning writer-director of "Crash," co-wrote both of Craig's Bond movies. And the villain is played by French star Mathieu Amalric, who played the paralyzed writer in last year's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

Craig says he would have played the character differently when he was younger.

"The older I've gotten, the more I've understood what being hard is about, or being tough. It's less about fighting and physicality," he says. "The strongest people I know are women and not-huge men, let's put it that way. The strongest people have been the ones who genuinely have got it inside. If you don't have it inside, you're weak."