Lea Seydoux did not expect to return to 'James Bond' for 'No Time To Die'.

The 36-year-old actress reprises her role as Madeleine Swann in the new 007 flick and admits that her return took her by surprise as she thought Daniel Craig would leave the role after 'Spectre'.

Lea told the website Collider: "I didn't know at the end of 'Spectre' that I would come back, I really thought that it was Daniel's last film. I didn't get the call until five years later but I was happy because I had the possibility to explore the character more and develop her personality."

Madeleine Swann is the first of Bond's love interests to appear in multiple movies in the long-running franchise and Lea credits Daniel – who plays 007 for the last time in the new picture – for changing attitudes in the series.

She said: "It means that the world and the franchise have changed. It is thanks to Daniel as he has made Bond more human and I think he wanted to do the same thing with the female roles. Not just with me but with Lashana Lynch and Ana De Armas. He wanted to have interesting female characters.

"I think Daniel is a feminist and you can really feel it in the film."

Lea also discussed the making of the Bond blockbuster and admits she is always taken by surprise by how difficult it is to make a film.

The French actress said: "When we see those big films we think they are easy to make in a way but what I have always found incredible is that you really do everything. You have no idea how difficult it is to make a film and it always strikes me.

"It's not only the acting, all the technical aspects are important and on a film like 'James Bond' even more so."