Does The Right Particular person Exist Out There To Play The New James Bond?

• With Daniel Craig stepping away and Amazon MGM Studios taking up the franchise, discovering a brand new James Bond is essential to the sequence’ success.
• Amazon supposedly has a want listing of actors, whereas different names have additionally been cropping up – typically for years.
• Only six actors have formally performed Bond in additional than 60 years.

Who ought to be the following actor to don the mantle of James Bond, agent 007 of the British Secret Service? That query has vexed filmmakers because the franchise first launched in 1962, when then-superstars like Cary Grant and Richard Burton had been bypassed in favor of a little-known Scottish actor named Sean Connery. In the 60-plus years since ‘Dr. No’ launched Bond to audiences, six actors (seven, should you embrace David Niven within the non-canonical 1967 Bond spoof, ‘Casino Royale’) have worn the tuxedo, with a mixture of established stars and relative unknowns taking over the function for stints various from one movie (George Lazenby) to seven (Roger Moore).

“Now meet essentially the most extraordinary gentleman spy in all fiction!”

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PG1 hr 50 minMay twenty ninth, 1963

Some Bonds, in fact, have been extra profitable than others, however the venerable franchise faces a problem on two fronts now: first, the property has modified arms for the primary time in many years, with the Broccoli household’s Eon Productions – which has been behind each Bond movie so far – ceding management to Amazon MGM Studios. Second, the following Bond actor will comply with the five-film run of Daniel Craig, which yielded one of many franchise’s all-time finest movies (2006’s ‘Casino Royale’) in addition to its highest-grossing (2012’s billion-earning ‘Skyfall’).

But there’s extra to it than that. The subsequent Bond, whoever he’s – and all types of potential names have been circulating for years – has to search out simply the appropriate steadiness of qualities. He ought to be younger sufficient (early 30s) to have cross-generational enchantment, however not too younger that he appears to lack expertise; he ought to be as fast along with his gun as he’s with a quip or double-entendre; he must painting each the ruthless brutality of a top-notch murderer and the vulnerability of a lonely, haunted man; and he should be each bodily imposing and sexually alluring.

Related Article: Why Denis Villeneuve Is A Solid Choice To Direct The New Bond Movie

Not such a tall order, proper? There’s no query that director Denis Villeneuve and producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman have their work minimize out for them. So let’s take a fast scan of the names which are on the market now – and analyze whether or not any of them are destined to develop into the following James Bond.

The Grizzled Veterans

Henry Cavill at The 88th Oscars® on the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, February 28, 2016. Credit/Provider: Aaron Poole / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: Scott Diussa.

Let’s begin with the actors who will not be Bond. The irony is that each one of them had been mooted for the function at one level or one other, however time has frankly handed them by. That quick listing consists of Henry Cavill, a fan favourite who auditioned for the function at age 22 however misplaced to Daniel Craig. At 42, he’s the identical age as Pierce Brosnan when the latter received the half, and three years youthful than Roger Moore. But Cavill can also be far too recognizable from taking part in Superman within the DC Extended Universe and the title function in ‘The Witcher’ TV sequence.

Also, exterior of his stints as Kal-El, Cavill shouldn’t be a box office draw. That in itself means nothing, particularly if the producers go together with a smaller identify – however Cavill has been on screens lengthy sufficient to show that he lacks a sure high quality that audiences flock to see.

Tom Hardy, likewise, has been in hits comparable to ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and the ‘Venom’ trilogy, however has had an erratic box office run exterior of these. At age 47, he’s additionally just about aged out of the function already. The identical goes for 52-year-old Idris Elba, a preferred selection for a protracted time who was reportedly reluctant to contemplate the function as a result of he frightened whether or not audiences would settle for a Bond of shade. Of the three, he most likely would have been essentially the most formidable selection.

The Amazon MGM List

Tom Holland arrives on the pink carpet of The ninetieth Oscars® on the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, March 4, 2018. Credit/Provider: Paul Hebert / A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: A.M.P.A.S.

Variety reported in June 2025 than Amazon MGM was all for casting an actor beneath 30 as Bond. The studio’s want listing featured three actors: Tom Holland, Harris Dickinson, and Jacob Elordi — all decent-to-good actors nonetheless exploring their potential, however not essentially in a position to nail the function of Bond.

Let’s dismiss Holland proper off the bat. Fair or not, he’s a comparatively small fellow with a child face that can merely not swimsuit Bond. Not solely that, his international fame all stems from his portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in six Marvel movies, with not less than two extra to go. Holland is just too youthful and too related to the web-slinger to step into 007’s footwear.

At 28, the Australian Elordi (the particular person taking part in Bond, by the best way, might be British, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, or Australian – however not American) might be one of the best all-around actor and should have simply sufficient gravitas (and peak) to evolve with the function. Dickinson, in the meantime, confirmed psychological and sexual depth in ‘Babygirl’ and a tough physicality in ‘The Iron Claw,’ however like a lot of the actors connected to the function, would nonetheless should bulk his slender body up a bit.

The Rest of the U.Ok. Contingent

Aaron Taylor-Johnson attends the Academy’s eighth Annual Governors Awards in The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, CA, on Saturday, November 12, 2016. Credit/Provider: Aaron Poole / ©A.M.P.A.S. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.

When you get previous names like Holland, Cavill, and Elordi, there’s a entire crop of comparatively younger U.Ok. actors who, for essentially the most half, are comparatively obscure exterior their house turf even when they’ve completed some movie and TV work in Hollywood. Leading that pack is Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who’s been bandied about as a frontrunner for 007 for the previous couple of years however stays pretty low-key with the general public regardless of roles in high-profile movies like ‘Nosferatu’ and ‘28 Years Later.’ Taylor-Johnson is an effective actor, however he’s lacking one thing – a sure magnetism – that makes us reluctant to contemplate him for Bond.

Theo James is one other British actor who has scored some spectacular credentials – most not too long ago, he starred within the TV model of ‘The Gentlemen,’ Season 2 of ‘The White Lotus’ and the Stephen King movie ‘The Monkey’ – however at 40 could also be on the tipping level to play 007. Will Poulter, in the meantime, has proven bodily prowess within the latest ‘Warfare’ and as Adam Warlock in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ and might be fairly menacing (he’s scary as a sadistic cop in ‘Detroit’), however might lack the sexual spark needed to draw feminine audiences.

Jack Lowden in ‘Slow Horses’ season 3 premiering November 29, 2023 on Apple TV+.

One fascinating candidate whose identify has surfaced time and again is Scottish thespian Jack Lowden – at 35, he’s the appropriate age, he has rugged beauty together with expertise in bodily motion roles, and his resume (which additionally consists of intensive stage work) ranges from high-level productions just like the BBC’s 2016 model of ‘War and Peace’ to the acclaimed Apple TV+ sequence ‘Slow Horses,’ wherein he performs – in an eerie coincidence – an MI5 agent.

Other U.Ok. actors whose names have been linked to the function at one level or one other embrace Paul Mescal (‘Gladiator II’), Josh O’Connor (‘Challengers’), James Norton (‘The Nevers’), Callum Turner (‘Masters of the Air’), Regé-Jean Page (‘Bridgerton’), Damson Idris (‘F1’), Richard Madden (‘Eternals’), Sam Heughan (‘Outlander’), and Dev Patel (‘Monkey Man’).

Do any of those – and even the opposite candidates above – scream ‘James Bond’ at us? Not essentially. But actors are able to remodeling themselves in ways in which we unusual people can’t usually think about, and one of many above – if not somebody but unrevealed to us – will definitely emerge from that course of as the following Bond…James Bond.

Sean Connery as James Bond in 1964’s ‘Goldfinger’. Photo: United Artists.

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