celebrity

"You have to protect your marriage." The ultra-private relationship of Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz.

After 15 years playing 007, Daniel Craig has moved on from his iconic role as James Bond for another thriving film franchise, Knives Out.

The British actor will reprise his role as private detective Benoit Blanc in the second installment of the murder mystery film, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which premieres in cinema later this month.

According to reports in August 2021, Craig has received a whopping AUD$139 million to appear in the movie's sequels. But in an interview soon after, he said his children will receive none of it.

"I don't want to leave great sums to the next generation. I think inheritance is quite distasteful," he told the UK’s Candis Magazine.

"My philosophy is get rid of it or give it away before you go."

Daniel Craig has been married to fellow actor Rachel Weisz for 11 years. The couple each has a child from previous relationships and share one daughter together. 

They are also notoriously private - they've attended only a handful of events together, rarely discuss their relationship during interviews, and still haven't shared the name of their daughter publicly.

"Daniel and I are really similar," Weisz told The New York Times in 2018. "We’re just really crap at talking about our private lives."

Watch: The most iconic celebrity pregnancy reveals. Post continues after video.

ADVERTISEMENT

Video via Mamamia.

According to Metro, the couple first met in college and were friends for years, but it wasn't until they starred in the 2011 psychological thriller, Dream House, together, that they started dating.

Before their relationship began, Weisz, 52, had said she wasn't keen on the idea of marriage. But Craig, 54, quickly changed her mind. 

In July 2011, just six months after they started dating, the couple quietly got married in New York. 

The ceremony was so intimate only four people attended, including their children from previous relationships - Weisz's 16-year-old son with director Darren Aronofsky, Henry, and Craig's 30-year-old daughter with ex-wife Fiona Loudon, Ella.

Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig in 2004. Image: Getty. 

ADVERTISEMENT

"I never thought I would get married," Weisz told The Standard in 2018. 

"It was not an ambition of mine. It was the opposite. I couldn't relate to romantic comedies - marriage seems to be the whole point of them. Then it just happened, happily, at a more mature moment."

Weisz soon learned how much she loved being married.

"I'm very happy being married. Very, very happy. I love being Mrs. Craig," she told the New York Times. "I'm Mrs. Craig on my checkbooks and passports and things."

The following year, the couple made their first red carpet appearance at the Madrid premiere of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

ADVERTISEMENT

Image: Getty. 

Speaking with More magazine, via E! Online, Weisz explained why she likes keeping their marriage out of the spotlight.

"He's just too famous. It would be a betrayal. You have to protect your marriage," she said. 

"When you’re young, you tell your girlfriends everything. One of the great pleasures of not being an adolescent is that you don't have to share everything."

ADVERTISEMENT

Craig reiterated that his wife has helped keep their lives as normal as possible, despite their status.

"There were phones back then, but nobody used the cameras," he told DuJour magazine of meeting fans. "Or there was a rule, if someone did it, you'd be like, 'What the f**k are you doing?!' 

"My wife is the best in the world at all that, she'll just turn to them and go, 'No, thank you very much,' and they're like, 'Okay.'"

Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz. Image: Getty. 

ADVERTISEMENT

But when the couple occasionally discuss their personal life together, it seems pretty bloody normal.

"We talk about films that we love or plays. We love to go to see theatre and discuss things that we've seen," Weisz told Good Morning America

"I love to cook. Daniel is also very good at it," she also shared. "We always enjoy trying out different kinds of cuisine and having fun with that."

In April 2018, Weisz told The New York Times that she and Craig were expecting a baby together. 

"I'll be showing soon," she said. "Daniel and I are so happy. We're going to have a little human. We can't wait to meet him or her. It's all such a mystery."

Five months later, in September 2018, the couple welcomed a daughter. Neither Craig nor Weisz have shared photos or her name.

They've also decided that she will be their only child together.

"I definitely know there won't be another one," Weisz told The Mirror in 2018. 

"When I had my son [Henry] I thought I'd have maybe two or three more. But the preciousness of a new life and family means so much more now I'm more mature and older. 

ADVERTISEMENT

"My son was a miracle, and it was an incredible experience. But doing it again now I'm older is very deep and very precious. I am very lucky." 

Image: Getty. After postponing the release date multiple times due to COVID-19, Daniel Craig's final James Bond film, No Time To Die, came out in November 2021.

ADVERTISEMENT

The star-studded world premiere went ahead in London, England, with attendees including Prince William and Kate Middleton, then-Prince Charles and Camilla. But Rachel Weisz, was nowhere in sight.

Daniel Craig and the No Time To Die world premiere. Image: Getty.

In October 2021, the actor was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and again, Weisz was not in attendance.

ADVERTISEMENT

Same with when he received the same royal honour as James Bond, the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.

Earlier this month, Craig did however, make a rare appearance with his eldest daughter, Ella Loudon, 30, taking her as his date to the European premiere of Glass Onion in London at the Closing Night Gala during the 66th BFI London Film Festival.

Image: Getty.

ADVERTISEMENT

And Weisz was there, appearing in one behind-the-scenes photo with her husband.

Image: Getty.

This article was originally posted in 2021, and was updated with new information on November 11, 2022.

Feature Image: Getty/Mamamia.