As Amazon MGM Studios moves forward with the next Bond film, speculation over who will become the next 007 continues to grow. Former Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams has now shared her thoughts on the ongoing search, saying the next Bond should be someone audiences know little about.
McWilliams was the casting director for the Bond franchise for four decades, selecting Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig as 007. The search for the next actor to play the British spy now falls to casting director Nina Gold, alongside director Denis Villeneuve.
Callum Turner has emerged as a reported frontrunner for the role (and even has George Clooney's backing), with Euphoria star Jacob Elordi and Babygirl actor Harris Dickinson also among the names linked to the part. McWilliams, however, believes Bond should not be played by any of them.
'I don't want to see any of them as James Bond,' she said.
Next Bond Should Retain 'Total Enigma'
'I don't want to see any of them as Bond because we now know so much about them,' McWilliams told The Independent, adding that the next Bond should be someone 'completely out of the blue.'
According to McWilliams, both Bond, the character, and the person playing him need to have an air of mystery.
'It is absolutely essential that he retains a total enigma,' she said. '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,' she added.
McWilliams said that she was drawn to Dalton, Brosnan and Craig because they were not widely known at the time.
'Timothy and Pierce weren't particularly well known. Daniel had had a career in independent films and a fairly colourful romantic life beforehand, but he wasn't a household name, and that helps enormously,' she said.
'He was such an unpopular choice,' she recalled of Craig being cast in 2006's Casino Royale. 'Nobody supported it. Not the studio. Not the director...He thought, "I'm going to show you bastards," and he did. And everybody went, "Oh my god, isn't he wonderful?" So don't ask the people who they want, because they won't know.'
Who Could Be the Next James Bond?
Craig made his final appearance as Bond in 2021's No Time to Die. Since then, numerous actors have been linked to the role, including Idris Elba, Tom Holland, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Henry Cavill, Theo James and Louis Partridge.
Partridge recently told Variety that he never pictured himself as 007, but it's 'wonderful' to be in contention. Elba also recently commented on the rumours, telling GQ, 'It was never legit. It was always just a rumour.'
In May, Amazon MGM Studios said in a statement that the search for the next James Bond was underway.
'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,' the studio said.
The next Bond film will be directed by Denis Villeneuve, with Amy Pascal and David Heyman producing through Pascal Pictures and Heyday Films, respectively.
