Every Man Who Has Been Rumored to Take Over as the Next James Bond: Regé-Jean Page, Sam Heughan, Idris Elba and More

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Every Man Who Has Been Rumored to Take Over as the Next James Bond: Regé-Jean Page, Sam Heughan, Idris Elba and More

Who will it be? Daniel Craig will say goodbye to James Bond after the premiere of No Time to Die in September 2021 — and fans have questions about the next actor in line. Craig originally suited up for the character in 2006, appearing in five films since then as the British secret agent. The Knives Out star followed in the footsteps of Barry Nelson, Sean Connery, Bob Simmons, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan to portray Ian Fleming's character. But as Craig prepares to drink his last vodka martini (shaken, not stirred), rumors have already started to surface online about who the next contenders for James Bond could be. Producer Barbara Broccoli has previously said that people behind the scenes aren't considering anyone until "the dust has settled" on Craig's time with the franchise. "I always say, you can only be in love with one person at a time," Broccoli told Total Film in October 2020 when asked about Bond's future. "Once [No Time to Die]'s come out, then some time will pass, and then we’ll have to get on to the business of the future. But for now, we just cannot think about anything beyond Daniel." Earlier that year, the film producer shared some of the criteria that went into choosing their next leading man. “James Bond can be of any color, but he is male," Broccoli said in an interview with Variety in January 2020. “I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.” [jwplayer UycfWhBG-zhNYySv2] The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actor recently confirmed that he was on the same page about having a woman take on that specific role. “The answer to that is very simple. There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color,” Craig told Radio Times in September 2021. “Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?” While an action actress may not be filling Craig's shoes, fans have their eyes on another rising star. Following Regé-Jean Page's surprising decision not to return for season 2 of Bridgerton, people quickly started to speculate whether that meant he was in the running to play James Bond. “I spend a lot of time at the moment talking about what other people are saying about me, as opposed to anything I’m actually doing,” Page told Variety about the rumors in May 2021. Although the Netflix star hasn't ruled out the possibility that he could take over for Craig, he couldn't speak too much about a role that wasn't officially offered to him. “I can’t talk about the B-word, because I’ve got nothing to say on the B-word. I can’t talk about which jobs I’m not doing, because I’m not doing them, [but] I’m very happy with the work I am doing,” he said at the time. Scroll down for all the men that have been rumored to be in the running for the role of James Bond: [podcast_block]

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Regé-Jean Page

In April 2021, the Emmy nominee said it was "fairly normal" for him to be considered as the next James Bond.

"Ah, the B word. I think if you are British and do anything of note, that other people take notice of, then people will start talking about that," he told The Mirror. "I'm flattered to be in the category of Brits that people have noticed. The concept of having plans in this moment in history is mildly hilarious. I've given up making them."

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Tom Hardy

Rumors that the Venom actor may take over as the next James Bond have been swirling for years. Brosnan even gave Hardy his stamp of approval when it was confirmed that Craig would be moving on after No Time to Die. 

“I think Tom Hardy could be a good Bond. I’d be happy to see him do it,” the Mamma Mia actor said in June 2018. “You need an actor who can put a bit of wiggle into it — that’s what makes Bond.”

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Daniel Kaluuya

The Get Out star hasn't directly confirmed whether he was up for the role, but he had fun fueling the rumor mill.

"What are the odds on that? I need to know the odds first, 'cause I need a new kitchen," he joked during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in September 2018.  

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Sam Heughan

"I actually have auditioned for James Bond," Heughan revealed to Esquire in March 2020. "Back when they were rebooting, Bond 21, when Daniel Craig came on board, they were talking about making him younger. I don't know what happened, but very recently, I became the bookie's favorite to play Bond, which is kind of random and very strange. Yeah, I mean, we want a Scottish James Bond, don't we?"

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Idris Elba

“James Bond is a hugely coveted, iconic, beloved character, that takes audiences on this massive escapism journey,” Elba told Vanity Fair in June 2019. “Of course, if someone said to me, ‘Do you want to play James Bond?’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah!’ That’s fascinating to me. But it’s not something I’ve expressed, like, ‘Yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond.'”

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Henry Cavill

The Witcher actor originally auditioned for the role when he was 22, but he ultimately lost out to Craig. Since then, he hasn't ruled out the possibility that he would give it another shot.

“We’ll see what happens,” Cavill told Men's Health in 2019. “But yes, I would love to play Bond, it would be very, very exciting.”

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Dev Patel

As fans started to discuss bringing more diversity to the James Bond character, the Newsroom alum quickly climbed to the top of the list. Patel was a dream casting for many, and it wasn't long before the Slumdog Millionare star responded to the rumors.

"I just think the best person for the role is what it comes down to," he told IndieWire in August 2020. "I also don't want to be gifted a role, just because of the tokenistic nature of me being a garnish. 'Let's sprinkle some diversity into this!' That doesn't make me feel good either."

The Skins alum admitted that he would consider the role only if it felt like a natural transition to him, adding, "If it works for the story, and I feel like I can bring some truth out of this role or embody it well, then that's what it should come down to."