With a director locked down for the next instalment of the James Bond franchise, attention is turning to which actor will step into the iconic role. After years of friendly speculation – from Idris Elba to Henry Cavill to the latest favourite, Aaron Taylor-Johnson – it would seem AmazonMGM is poised to throw a wrench in things.
Reporting by Variety indicates that rather than sticking with the tried-and-true debonaire middle-aged Bond, the new franchise owners are leaning toward a younger, more boyish actor for the role. The top three actors in contention – Jacob Elordi, Harris Dickinson and Tom Holland – are all under 30, something Bond hasn’t been since On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). That performance by Australian actor George Lazenby remains the only one-off casting in the franchise’s history.
But with Daniel Craig ending his 15-year tenure as the British superspy in No Time to Die (2021) and killing off the character in the process, AmazonMGM appears to believe there is no time like the present to reinvent the character once again.
Jacob Elordi would only be the second Australian to take on Bond after one-and-done George Lazenby, and the tallest, beating out reigning champ Timothy Dalton by 8 centimetres.
Despite his towering 1.96-metre frame and solid physique, a boyishly handsome face makes Elordi feel like an odd fit for the worldly Bond. Best-known for the HBO series Euphoria (2019) and Saltburn (2023), the Australian actor is set to appear as the monster in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein later this year and as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (2026).
[See more: Director Denis Villeneuve picked to direct next James Bond movie]
Harris Dickinson, dubbed “the most interesting” of the three leading contenders by Euronews, is a more conventional pick in some respects: British, tall without being overly so, and experienced without being a star. But he also brings plenty of range, and some experience in the action genre from his starring role in The King’s Man (2021). With his close-cropped hair and clean-shaven face, though, the actor-director comes off even more boyish that Elordi.
That brings us to the last of the leading contenders: Tom Holland. The British actor needs no introduction after nearly a decade as Spider Man, one of the most beloved characters in the mammoth Marvel franchise. He also seems like the poorest fit for the role: already a superstar and so boyish that he can still credibly play a teenager at the age of 29.
Commenters on the Variety piece were not impressed. “No men were available?” quipped one, while another said they would be better suited to a different role: “Try Son of Bond, James Bond, Jr.” Their confusion is understandable: with the exception of the then 29-year-old Lazenby, most actors entered the franchise in their late 30s or early 40s.
AmazonMGM has the opportunity to cast someone young enough to contrast with 53-year-old Craig in No Time to Die – and carry the franchise well into the future – but young doesn’t have to mean boyish. After all, Sean Connery, who introduced the titular superspy to the big screen, came to the role as an energetic 32-year-old.
He was anything but boyish in Dr. No (1962), however, instead exuding the same assertive, reckless, masculine energy and “jungle cat” physicality that eventually won him the right to play Bond more times than anyone else.
