It’s hard to parse through all the casting rumors around who will play James Bond in the next Bond movie, Bond 26 (for lack of a better name at this point). The most recent hot stove contender seems to be 2026 Oscar nominee Jacob Elordi. His name has popped up among all the other rumors and wish-castings, along with those of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Idris Elba, and even Timothée Chalamet.
To be clear, as of yet, no one has been officially announced, but I did find it striking that if Elordi were to be named, and depending on when the film starts production, he would be the youngest actor to ever play 007 in the official series. Who is currently the youngest? Well, I’m glad you asked.
Another Australian Actor Currently Holds The Record
The youngest man to play the British superspy is George Lazenby. He was 29 years old when he took over for a then-39-year-old Sean Connery in 1969’s On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Of course, Connery would return two years later at age 41 for Diamonds Are Forever before retiring from the role (well, except for Never Say Never Again, outside the official canon). If the movie kicks off production this year (which may be an aggressive timeline), Elordi would be 28 or 29 at the time of filming, making him the youngest Bond ever.
Elordi and Lazenby have something else in common, as well: both are Australian. Of the eight men who have played James Bond (six in the official Eon series), all have been from the British Isles, except Lazenby (and American Barry Nelson in his first-ever non-canon appearance in the ‘50s). Connery was Scottish, Roger Moore was English, Timothy Dalton is Welsh, Pierce Brosnan is Irish, and Daniel Craig is English. Elordi would join his fellow Aussie in rarified air.
It Does Seem Like The Next Film Will Feature A Younger Version Of 007
Amidst all the casting rumors lately, there has been a consistent quality: all the rumored actors are on the young side for Bond. As I mentioned, Connery was 41 when he retired from the role, and he was 32 when he first appeared in Dr. No. The Roger Moore era began with 1973’s Live and Let Die, when Moore was 46. By the time Moore retired after 1985’s A View To A Kill, he was 58; to date the oldest Bond. Dalton took over in ‘87 when he was 41. Brosnan was 42 when he took on the role for the first time, and Craig was 38 in Casino Royale.
All that said, the general age of Bond is significantly older than Elordi (and most of the other rumored actors), which may be because the next movie, which will be directed by Dune: Part III director Denis Villeneuve, could be an origin story about 007. While I do admit that I’m not totally psyched about a Bond movie going back to the beginning, I am on board with a younger actor taking on the role. As much as I love Roger Moore as Bond (he was my intro to the series when I was a kid), he was definitely too old to be playing the spy in the last few movies.
As I’ve been rewatching the Bond movies (again) with my Netflix subscription, I’ve been thinking about the future of the franchise, and I’m excited for it. Elordi makes some sense, and going younger is probably a great idea. We’ll just have to wait and see who the new producers pick for a new era!
