Bean, 53, who played Bond villain Alec Trevelyan in 1995 hit 'GoldenEye', said Craig has always been a stand-out actor, reported Showbiz spy.
"He's always been an actor that stands out, and I remember when he first got Bond and people were slagging him off before he'd even started, and he's managed to turn that around and stick it back up 'em! And he's probably one of the best Bond's that's ever been.
"I like Daniel Craig, I worked with him on 'Sharpe', one of the very early ones, maybe the second one we did - 'Sharpe's Revenge'? A long, long time ago and he was good in that then. He had a lot of pressure on him, but he coped very well with it and turned out to be a great Bond," he said.
Craig has played the British spy in three films so far - 'Casino Royale', 'Quantum of Solace' and 'Skyfall'.