Pierce Brosnan has become the latest former 007 to give his blessing to Aaron Taylor-Johnson taking over the role of the spy.
Brosnan, who played the intelligence agent in GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day, was speaking on RTÉ Radio’s The Ray D’Arcy Show, and discussed acting alongside the younger star in 2009 film The Greatest, in which they played father and son.
“He was the greatest in [The Greatest],” said Brosnan. “So, yes, I read the news about his possibilities of being a Bond, so I would definitely tip my hat to the fellow.
“I think the man has the chops and the talent and the charisma to play Bond, very much so.”
Jonathan Pryce, who played the Bond villain opposite Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies, has also endorsed Taylor-Johnson. Speaking on Good Morning Britain last week, Pryce said: “He’s grown into a wonderful actor and when he was a little younger, he did this extraordinary sort of action film where he played a superhero.
“And he’s great, look at him now, he’s black tie, handsome and yeah, he’d be a great Bond.”
Meanwhile George Lazenby, who played Bond in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, told TMZ he believed Taylor-Johnson, “can handle the stunts and all the ladies who love a man in a tux”.
The Australian actor added that at the time he understood Taylor-Johnson had not yet been formally offered the role, given that his own experience involved multiple tests and auditions. He continued by saying he would be happy to support the younger actor, provided Taylor-Johnson could “do the character justice”.
Last week, Taylor-Johnson was tipped by the Sun newspaper to be a shoo-in for the role, with Eon productions having put in a formal offer, ahead of a planned production start on the 26th Bond movie later this year.
But in an interview with GQ conducted before the Sun’s report, Taylor-Johnson appeared to rule himself out of contention, saying: “I don’t feel like I need to have a future drawn out for me. I feel like, whatever’s drawn out for me, I can fucking do better.”
He continued by saying that he “doesn’t necessarily want … doing one action movie after another” to be his “brand”.
Taylor-Johnson’s possible casting led to the hashtag #BoycottJamesBond trending on X as posters said they would no longer watch the franchise if a Jewish actor was cast in the lead role.
The actor, 33, told the Guardian in 2015 that he was pleased when someone told him he resembled a fashionable Hasidic Jew. “That was nice because I have really curly hair and also I’m Jewish,” he said.
Daniel Craig’s tenure as Bond came to an end after five films with 2021’s No Time to Die. Names rumoured to be in the crosshairs to take over have included Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, James Norton, Regé-Jean Page and Idris Elba.
