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

• With Daniel Craig stepping away and Amazon MGM Studios taking over the franchise, finding a new James Bond is crucial to the series’ success.
• Amazon supposedly has a wish list of actors, while other names have also been cropping up – sometimes for years.
• Only six actors have officially played Bond in more than 60 years.

Who should be the next actor to don the mantle of James Bond, agent 007 of the British Secret Service? That question has vexed filmmakers since the franchise first launched in 1962, when then-superstars like Cary Grant and Richard Burton were bypassed in favor of a little-known Scottish actor named Sean Connery. In the 60-plus years since ‘Dr. No’ introduced Bond to audiences, six actors (seven, if you include David Niven in the non-canonical 1967 Bond spoof, ‘Casino Royale’) have worn the tuxedo, with a mix of established stars and relative unknowns taking on the role for stints varying from one film (George Lazenby) to seven (Roger Moore).

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

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PG1 hr 50 minMay 29th, 1963

Some Bonds, of course, have been more successful than others, but the venerable franchise faces a challenge on two fronts now: first, the property has changed hands for the first time in decades, with the Broccoli family’s Eon Productions – which has been behind every Bond film to date – ceding control to Amazon MGM Studios. Second, the next Bond actor will follow the five-film run of Daniel Craig, which yielded one of the franchise’s all-time best films (2006’s ‘Casino Royale’) as well as its highest-grossing (2012’s billion-earning ‘Skyfall’).

But there’s more to it than that. The next Bond, whoever he is – and all kinds of potential names have been circulating for years – has to find just the right balance of qualities. He should be young enough (early 30s) to have cross-generational appeal, but not too young that he seems to lack experience; he should be as quick with his gun as he is with a quip or double-entendre; he needs to portray both the ruthless brutality of a top-notch assassin and the vulnerability of a lonely, haunted man; and he must be both physically imposing and sexually alluring.

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

Not such a tall order, right? There’s no question that director Denis Villeneuve and producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman have their work cut out for them. So let’s take a quick scan of the names that are out there now – and analyze whether any of them are destined to become the next James Bond.

The Grizzled Veterans

Henry Cavill at The 88th Oscars® at 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 start with the actors who won’t be Bond. The irony is that all of them were mooted for the role at one point or another, but time has frankly passed them by. That short list includes Henry Cavill, a fan favorite who auditioned for the role at age 22 but lost to Daniel Craig. At 42, he’s the same age as Pierce Brosnan when the latter got the part, and three years younger than Roger Moore. But Cavill is also far too recognizable from playing Superman in the DC Extended Universe and the title role in ‘The Witcher’ TV series.

Also, outside of his stints as Kal-El, Cavill is not a box office draw. That in itself means nothing, especially if the producers go with a smaller name – but Cavill has been on screens long enough to prove that he lacks a certain quality that audiences flock to see.

Tom Hardy, likewise, has been in hits such as ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and the ‘Venom’ trilogy, but has had an erratic box office run outside of those. At age 47, he’s also pretty much aged out of the role already. The same goes for 52-year-old Idris Elba, a popular choice for a long time who was reportedly reluctant to consider the role because he worried whether audiences would accept a Bond of color. Of the three, he probably would have been the most formidable choice.

The Amazon MGM List

Tom Holland arrives on the red carpet of The 90th Oscars® at 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 interested in casting an actor under 30 as Bond. The studio’s wish list featured three actors: Tom Holland, Harris Dickinson, and Jacob Elordi — all decent-to-good actors still exploring their potential, but not necessarily able to nail the role of Bond.

Let’s dismiss Holland right off the bat. Fair or not, he’s a relatively small fellow with a baby face that will simply not suit Bond. Not only that, his global fame all stems from his portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in six Marvel films, with at least two more to go. Holland is simply too youthful and too associated with the web-slinger to step into 007’s shoes.

At 28, the Australian Elordi (the person playing Bond, by the way, can be British, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, or Australian – but not American) is probably the best all-around actor and may have just enough gravitas (and height) to evolve with the role. Dickinson, meanwhile, showed psychological and sexual intensity in ‘Babygirl’ and a rough physicality in ‘The Iron Claw,’ but like most of the actors attached to the role, would still have to bulk his slender frame up a bit.

The Rest of the U.K. Contingent

Aaron Taylor-Johnson attends the Academy’s 8th 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 past names like Holland, Cavill, and Elordi, there is a whole crop of relatively young U.K. actors who, for the most part, are relatively obscure outside their home turf even if they’ve done 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 past couple of years but remains fairly low-key with the public despite roles in high-profile films like ‘Nosferatu’ and ‘28 Years Later.’ Taylor-Johnson is a good actor, but he’s missing something – a certain magnetism – that makes us reluctant to consider him for Bond.

Theo James is another British actor who has scored some impressive credentials – most recently, he starred in the TV version of ‘The Gentlemen,’ Season 2 of ‘The White Lotus’ and the Stephen King film ‘The Monkey’ – but at 40 may be at the tipping point to play 007. Will Poulter, meanwhile, has shown physical prowess in the recent ‘Warfare’ and as Adam Warlock in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ and can be quite menacing (he’s frightening as a sadistic cop in ‘Detroit’), but may lack the sexual spark necessary to attract female audiences.

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

One interesting candidate whose name has surfaced again and again is Scottish thespian Jack Lowden – at 35, he’s the right age, he has rugged good looks along with experience in physical action roles, and his resume (which also includes extensive stage work) ranges from high-level productions like the BBC’s 2016 version of ‘War and Peace’ to the acclaimed Apple TV+ series ‘Slow Horses,’ in which he plays – in an eerie coincidence – an MI5 agent.

Other U.K. actors whose names have been linked to the role at one point or another include 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 these – or even the other candidates above – scream ‘James Bond’ at us? Not necessarily. But actors are capable of transforming themselves in ways that we ordinary folks can’t often imagine, and one of the above – if not someone yet unrevealed to us – will certainly emerge from that process as the next Bond…James Bond.

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

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