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Ben Whishaw has responded to questions surrounding his future in the James Bond franchise, suggesting a return to his role as fan favourite Q is unlikely.
Whishaw, 43, made his debut as Q, the head of the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service, in 2012’s Skyfall opposite Daniel Craig as 007.
He reprised the role in 2015’s Spectre, then again in 2021’s No Time to Die, which marked Craig’s final outing as Ian Fleming’s suave super-spy.
“I don’t think I’m going to be in the next one,” Whishaw said on the BBC programme, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
“I think they’re going to start all over again, and with a new cast, a completely new cast. I think that’s my hunch, but I don’t know. I have no idea.”
Speculation about which actor will be cast as the new James Bond has been rife, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson a firm favourite who has been forced to shrug off rumours on multiple occasions.
Others slated for the coveted role as the secret agent include The Witcher star Henry Cavill, Snowfall’s Damson Idris, Oppenheimer actor Cillian Murphy and Luther star Idris Elba.
EON Productions has produced the last nine films in the spy series, and is yet to announce who will next take on the role of Bond.
“I’d do it if they asked me,” Whishaw said of the prospect of returning as Q. “But I think it might need a kind of new lease of life and a whole new group of people.
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“I think it could be good for it, but if they asked me, I would do it, of course.”
Whishaw is currently starring in a production of Samuel Beckett’s absurdist drama Waiting For Godot alongside Gangs Of London actor Lucian Msamati.
The actor said that the play had had a “profound impact” on him and changed the direction of his life.
“I think that young people have all these questions, and there’s so much that feels incredibly frightening about the world in a very raw way when you’re young, and there’s something this play goes right into about those things unashamedly,” he said.
“Although it’s a play that’s quite bleak, there’s something just in… giving those things space, it feels strangely hopeful also.”
Additional reporting by agencies
