Ex-007 Casting Director Says Jacob Elordi and Callum Turner Are Too Well Known to Take on the Role of JAMES BOND

It’s been widely reported that the search is narrowing for the next actor to take on the James Bond mantle for the foreseeable future. Several actors have been rumored to be in the mix, including Harris Dickinson, Callum Turner and Jacob Elordi, but one former 007 casting director has strong feelings about bringing in a familiar (yet fitting) face, versus a newcomer.

Debbie McWilliams, the franchise’s longtime casting director, does not want to see the aforementioned rumored contenders pick up the 007 moniker.

McWilliams worked on Bond movies for 40 years, starting with 1981’s For Your Eyes Only and running through 2021’s No Time to Die, and is responsible for casting Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.

With McWilliams having retired before Amazon’s acquisition of the Bond franchise, the search for the next 007 actor falls to casting director Nina Gold and director Denis Villeneuve.

“I don’t want to see any of them as James Bond,” McWilliams recently told The Independent. “It is absolutely essential that [Bond] retains a total enigma,” she explained.

“I don’t want to see any of them as Bond because we now know so much about them. 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.”

McWilliams continued, “Timothy and Pierce weren’t particularly well known. Daniel had had a career in independent films and a fairly colorful romantic life beforehand, but he wasn’t a household name, and that helps enormously. I want to see somebody who is completely out of the blue.”

Bond should also remain a man because “it’s how Ian Fleming wrote it,” McWilliams added. “Why would you want to change that? They haven’t changed Harry Potter to Alice Potter or to a different ethnicity. That’s how it was written and that’s how it should remain, I believe.”

Amazon said of the casting process: “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.”

Denis Villeneuve is directing the new 007 movie, which will serve as the 26th installment in the Bond franchise. Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is penning the screenplay. Stay tuned for an update on the new James Bond. Who would you like to see get the role?

via: Variety