Daniel Craig celebrated winning the role as James Bond by getting drunk alone on vodka martinis.

The actor first played 007 in 2006’s Casino Royale and is preparing for the release of his fifth and final film in the franchise, No Time To Die.

Craig, widely considered one of the greatest Bonds, recalled discovering he had landed one of the most sought-after roles in Hollywood from franchise producer Barbara Broccoli.

The 53-year-old had been filming in the US when he got the call.

Speaking on the sixth and final episode of the No Time To Die: The Official James Bond podcast, Craig said: “We were in Baltimore and I shot off to go and do a screen test, which of course I couldn’t tell anyone about.

“And I came back and carried on filming in Baltimore and then I got a phone call from Barbara saying, ‘the gig is yours’.

“It was a long process, it was about a year between that and me sitting down with Barbara and Michael for the first time. From the moment it came about, it was mainly sort of disbelief of like, ‘really? Really? Really?’ I couldn’t get my head around any of it and still didn’t really believe it.”

Craig was sworn to secrecy until the casting was made official and had to celebrate alone.

He said: “I was in the supermarket buying groceries and the phone went and Barbara said, ‘over to you kiddo’.

“I got drunk, that’s what I did. I bought a bottle of vodka and a bottle of vermouth, a cocktail shaker and made myself three or four vodka martinis.

“Except I could only do it on my own because I couldn’t celebrate with anybody because I had to keep it secret. There was a sort of melancholy to it.”

James Bond ditched his trademarked vodka martini for beer in the Skyfall film, released in 2012. This after the makers of Skyfall, the 23rd movie in the franchise, signed a US$45 million deal with Dutch beer company Heineken.