With No Time to Die set to be Daniel Craig’s swan song as James Bond, everyone is trying to guess who the next 007 might be. Some have suggested that there should be a female James Bond, but Craig himself is chief among those who think this is a bad idea. In an interview with the Radio Times, Craig said, “The answer to that is very simple…There should simply be better parts for women and actors of colour. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”
I have got to say, Craig’s answer is pretty sound. While perhaps casting a person of colour as Bond could work (I doubt anyone would protest if someone like Idris Elba took on the part), gender-swapping the role would mean the character isn’t James Bond anymore, so what’s the point?
However, Craig is also right that it’s high time a role as good as Bond goes to a woman or person of colour. Funny enough, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson tried this some years back with a Die Another Day Jinx spin-off that was to star Halle Berry, but the project got axed by the studio at the last minute.
In the meantime, everyone and their uncle has their opinion over who should be the next 007, with many favouring someone like Tom Hardy. As a life-long Bond fan who’s been through 007 castings before, I’ll tell you this – EON will be doing extensive screen tests. Expect an utterly out-of-the-box choice. It works by making substantial feature-quality screen tests that put the actors through their paces. Stars such as Henry Cavill, Sam Neil, James Brolin and more got full 007-tests but didn’t land the part.
Who do you think should be the next James Bond?
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