Jacob Elordi and Callum Turner shouldn’t be the next James Bond, according to a former 007 casting boss.
Debbie McWilliams, the franchise’s longtime casting director who has worked on Bond films for over 40 years, does not want to see rumoured James Bond hopefuls Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner or Harris Dickinson become 007 when the new Bond is announced.
McWilliams was responsible for casting Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig in their bond roles. She retired before Amazon acquired the Bond franchise and now the job of assigning the next Bond falls to casting director Nina Gold and Dune director Denis Villeneuve, who was announced as the next Bond director last year.
Gold is an Emmy and BAFTA Award winner best known for her work on the shows Game Of Thrones and The Crown, while on the big screen she has been involved with the Star Wars, Jurassic World, and Marvel franchises, as well as Oscar winning dramas such as The Power Of The Dog and Hamnet.
Speaking about the rumoured favourites of Elordi, Turner and Dickinson, McWilliams told The Independent: “I don’t want to see any of them as James Bond.”
She continued: “It is absolutely essential that [Bond] retains a total enigma. I don’t want to see any of them as Bond because we now know so much about them. We want to know as little about them personally as possible, because that’s what spies are. We don’t need to know where he goes shopping or who his parents are, or where he lives. We never want to see him at home. And a vital element of the whole thing is his job description. He’s licensed to kill, and we have to believe that he can do that. If you don’t, then you’ve lost the audience.
“Timothy and Pierce weren’t particularly well known. Daniel had had a career in independent films and a fairly colorful romantic life beforehand, but he wasn’t a household name, and that helps enormously. I want to see somebody who is completely out of the blue.”
She also argued that Bond should also remain a man because “it’s how Ian Fleming wrote it.” She continued: “Why would you want to change that? They haven’t changed Harry Potter to Alice Potter or to a different ethnicity. That’s how it was written and that’s how it should remain, I believe.”
Back in May, Amazon confirmed that the search for the new Bond actor was officially underway. They said at the time: “While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.”
It has been almost five years since Daniel Craig’s exit from the series in 2021’s No Time To Die, but pre-production on the 26th 007 adventure is moving ahead. Villeneuve will be directing from a script by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders).
Late last year, Turner became the bookie’s favourite for the coveted role, with bookmaker Coral saying in December that he had 7-4 odds to succeed Daniel Craig, ahead of the likes of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Henry Cavill. Reports also emerged that You actor Tom Francis was also auditioning for the role.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Idris Elba confirmed he would not be playing Bond, saying that he felt some audiences wouldn’t “go for” a Black actor playing the role.