With Daniel Craig leaving the role of James Bond, casting speculations have swirled around Three Thousand Years of Sorrow star Idris Elba as the next leading man in the long-running film series. However, the British actor has doused those embers of hope because he does not think the role is right for him. The actor spoke on the podcast The Shop with Drew Barrymore and Kyrie Irving, where he said that playing James Bond is not something he aspires to do or would find satisfying. Saying, “It is not a goal for my career,” he did his best to put an end to the rumours. You know, I don’t think playing Bond will let me achieve all of my personal aspirations.
The actor recognises that this would be popular with fans, but he is not contemplating doing it. It will unquestionably fulfil the desire of a country. I’m not going to lie, in every culture I encounter, people always go ‘Bond,’ and I feel like that’s beyond me right now,” he admitted. I don’t understand it. It’s not a matter of debating whether or not you should. Oftentimes, it’s necessary to do so because of the national will. Elba would make history if he accepted the role, but the prospect of being the first Black Bond holds little interest for him. “I’m not that man, but in everybody’s world, I may be,” Elba remarked.
Even though the next Bond movie isn’t coming out for at least another two years, film producer Barbara Broccoli has already given some thought to who should play James Bond. However, Broccoli did confirm that Elba has been in the running for the role for quite some time, and he does acknowledge that choosing a new Bond is a major move for the series. Broccoli has said that the actor can be “any colour or ethnicity,” but must be “distinctly male and British,” therefore names like Regé-Jean Page, Tom Hardy, Henry Cavill, and Jacob Elordi have been bandied around as possible contenders. Elba has recently portrayed a strong djinn in George Miller’s The Thousand Years of Longing and starred in the survival thriller Beast, albeit he may or may not play James Bond in the future.
The movie almost had Isan Elba and her father work together on set, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Additionally, Elba will be reprising his role as John Luther in the upcoming film Luther.