Popular British star Taron Egerton has downplayed suggestions he could take on the currently vacant role of James Bond, claiming he ‘wouldn’t be good at it’.
All eyes are still on lists of bookies’ odds and fan favourites while we wait to see who will inherit 007’s licence to kill after Daniel Craig retired from the role following 2021’s No Time to Die.
But Egerton, 35, who is easy to visualise in the role after his star-making turn in the Kinsgman franchise, thinks he’s too ‘messy’ for the part.
The three-time Bafta nominee instead believes there are ‘so many cool, younger actors’ who would be better suited to the coveted role.
Asked about the possibility of playing Bond, he told Collider: ‘I don’t think I’m a good choice for it. I think I’m too messy for that.
‘I think I’m not – I really love James Bond and particularly Daniel Craig’s tenure. But I think I wouldn’t be good at it, and I think there’s so many cool, younger actors who would be great for it. I think it would be wasted on me, probably.’
Rocketman actor Egerton, who picked up a Golden Globe for his performance in the Elton John biopic, also observed that leading the Bond franchise is ‘quite an undertaking’.
He continued: ‘That’s not to say that I don’t have aspirations and plans and also that I wouldn’t be interested in doing something that’s more commercial, because of course I would. I think I’m a period in my life where I’ve been probably following the things that speak to me on a creative level a little bit more, but, you know, I’m sure I won’t feel that way forever.’
The star also quipped that ‘as far as I’m aware, nobody’s asking me to do it’.
Suggesting that this opportunity or similar is something he has weighed up before, Egerton was also realistic about its downsides, saying that playing Bond is ‘possibly not quite the thing that would make me happiest’.
‘I do think it’s a big old undertaking, it kind of consumes your life, a role like that.’
Egerton is currently promoting new indie crime thriller She Rides Shotgun, an adaptation of Jordan Harper’s award-winning novel, after starring in Netflix’s second most watched movie of all time, Carry-On.
After well over a year of fevered speculation – ever since he was falsely reported to have officially landed the 007 gig, Aaron Taylor-Johnson has remained one of the front-runners to play Bond next.
Fresh odds from Ladbrokes on Wednesday had him at 8/11, making him the first odds-on candidate in their eyes to be the next 007, after his appearance in 28 Years Later with Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes.
Behind him is another hot favourite Callum Turner, next to be seen in A24 supernatural rom-com Eternity with Elisabeth Olsen and Miles Teller, and The Gentlemen’s Theo James, both of whom are on 5/1.
Slow Horses star and new Mr Darcy Jack Lowden is 6/1, and both Harris Dickinson and Tom Holland are 8/1.
Egerton is currently 66/1 the bookmakers confirmed to Metro, having been bumped from 50/1 as recently as Friday.
He started the year as 80/1 to be the next Bond, the same price as Sir David Beckham.
His shortest odds were 25/1 just after he picked up his Golden Globe in 2020.
Long-time producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson made the surprising move of ceding complete creative control of the 007 film franchise to their producing partners at Amazon MGM Studios earlier this year – for a rumoured extra $1billion (£747.5m).
Since that change of power, things are moving a little more quickly with Amazon already announcing Harry Potter’s David Heyman and Spider-Man’s Amy Pascal as the new producers shepherding the franchise.
In June, Oscar-nominated Denis Villeneuve was announced as the director for Bond 26 – with Broccoli later sharing her support from afar for the ‘fantastic filmmaker’.
‘I’m thrilled he’s going to be doing it,’ she added to Mark Kermode during an appearance on his podcast Kermode on Film.
He’s previously had success with his Dune adaptation, Blade Runner 2049 and 2016 alien movie Arrival, which earned him a best director nod.
With key figures in the team aboard, it seems casting can now finally begin in earnest.
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