It’s hard to find a character more iconic than James Bond. After debuting in 1962’s\u00a0Dr. No<\/em> (with\u00a0Sean Connery\u00a0<\/strong>playing the man himself), James Bond has been one of the most famous characters to grace the silver screen. In the nearly 60 years since 007 hit the big screen, he’s been played by five actors (Sean,\u00a0George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Daniel Craig<\/strong><\/a>) across 25 movies. With\u00a02021’s\u00a0No Time To Die<\/em>, Daniel Craig has officially called it a day playing 007, giving someone else the opportunity to take on the role.<\/p>\n While nothing official has been announced about who will play Bond next, fans have naturally chimed in with all sorts of discussions about what actors could encapsulate the super spy. There’s also been much discussion about diversifying the role and casting a non-white or non-male actor. There have also been reports about actors like, Aaron Taylor-Johnson <\/strong><\/a>being favored for the role. Find out about some of the people that might be in the running to be the next 007 here!<\/p>\n With over a year since\u00a0No Time To Die\u00a0<\/em>hit theaters, there are lots of people speculating about who will take over the role, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 32, is reportedly one of the frontrunners. Sources have claimed that the\u00a0Nocturnal Animals\u00a0<\/em>star sat down with Bond producer\u00a0Barbara Broccoli\u00a0<\/strong>for a meeting which went well, according to\u00a0Puck News.<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>Another insider shared details with\u00a0The Sun\u00a0<\/em><\/a>in November. “Aaron went for a screen test to be the next Bond in September and producers and Barbara loved him,” they said.<\/p>\n Outlander\u00a0<\/em>actor\u00a0Sam Heughan,<\/strong><\/a> 42, has been floated a possible replacement for Daniel Craig, especially because he actually auditioned to be Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale<\/em>. He revealed that he’d tried out for the part in a June interview on the podcast Just The Facts With Alex Zane<\/a>. <\/em>While even getting to audition to play 007 is an honor, the\u00a0Island At War\u00a0<\/em>star admitted that he felt ill-equipped at the time. \u201cIt was an amazing experience and I was completely out of my depth,\u201d he said, via\u00a0Parade<\/em><\/a>. He also explained that he felt like he’s now the “right age” for the part. “I feel capable enough to do it. I\u2019d love the opportunity to throw my hat in the ring. Definitely,” he said.<\/p>\n Idris Elba,<\/a> <\/strong>50, has long been a fan-favorite to take up the 007 codename<\/a>, and the star clearly enjoyed stoking the flames. When fans started campaigning for\u00a0The Wire\u00a0<\/em>actor to take on the role in 2014, Idris tweeted that he was happy fans thought he was a good fit. “Isn’t 007 supposed to handsome? Glad you think I’ve got a shot! ” he tweeted<\/a>. He’s tweeted few more times getting fans on edge, like in 2018, when he shared selfie<\/a> with the words “My name’s Elba. Idris Elba,” after the famous Bond quote. He also shared an “awks” selfie<\/a> of him and Daniel Craig at an award show in 2019, clearly having fun with the rumors. While fans might want to see Idris suit up, he shut down the possibility of it happening anytime soon in an October interview with ITV<\/em><\/a>. “No I’m not going to be James Bond,” he said.<\/p>\n Lashana Lynch,\u00a0<\/strong>35, has already made history<\/a> as the first Black woman<\/a> to take up the 007 codename. Her character Nomi in\u00a0No Time To Die<\/em> was revealed to be James Bond’s successor. With Daniel Craig no longer playing James Bond, if the plots from his movies continue, Lashana can surely keep the story going as the all-new 007.<\/p>\n Another fan favorite to takeover the franchise has been\u00a0Avengers\u00a0<\/em>star\u00a0Tom Hiddleston,<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>41. The actor has been rumored to take over the franchise in the past, but a source close to producer Barbara Broccoli\u00a0<\/b>told\u00a0Page Six<\/em><\/a> in 2017 that she didn’t think he was the right fit. “Plus, Barbara Broccoli doesn\u2019t like Tom Hiddleston, he\u2019s a bit too smug and not tough enough to play James Bond,” the source said.<\/p>\n Although he may not have been the right fit in 2017, fans have still rode hard for Tom, and he was asked about the rumors again in an April interview with\u00a0Empire\u00a0<\/em>Magazine<\/em>. \u201cWhat can I say that you don\u2019t already know?” he said when asked about the speculation, via Independent<\/em><\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting in itself that I\u2019ve suddenly become very aware of what I\u2019m saying, is it not?”<\/p>\n After playing icon with\u00a0Superman<\/em>,\u00a0Henry Cavill<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>39, has shown interest in taking up the Bond role now that Daniel Craig is finished. “If Barbara [Broccoli] and Michael [G. Wilson] interested me in any capacity to be a part of their movies, then I will gladly have that discussion, and that would be something I’d be very keen to explore further,” he said, via Cinemablend<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n While he’s stayed coy about whether or not he could crop up in season 2 of\u00a0Bridgerton,<\/em>\u00a0Reg\u00e9-Jean Page<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>34, is yet another name on the tip of Bond-fans tongues! The actor said that it’s both exciting and something of a rite-of-passage for English actors to be rumored to take on 007, although nothing is set. “Ah, the B word. I think that if you are British and you do anything of note, that other people take notice of, then people will start talking about that,” he said in April 2021 to Mirror<\/em>.<\/a> \u201cI think that\u2019s fairly normal and I\u2019m flattered to be in the category of Brits that people have noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With Daniel Craig finally putting his take on James Bond to rest, fans are excited to know who will be the next actor to take up the 007 moniker, after ‘No Time To Die.’ Check out some of the favored stars here!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191609816,"featured_media":4533118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exclude_post_from_river":false,"_cr_original_post":"","_cr_replace_post_id":"","_cr_replacing_post_id":"","mt_seo_title":"New James Bond: 7 Actors In The Running To Play The Next 007","mt_seo_description":"From Idris Elba to Tom Hiddleston, find out more about some of the actors rumored to be the next 007!","_pmc_canonical_override":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2021-10-07T17:25:32Z","apple_news_api_id":"9ae9c663-6dd1-47ed-a27c-3ea208ada077","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-01-04T18:31:00Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AmunGY23RR-2ifD6iCK2gdw","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[190,378004978],"tags":[4415,1151243,4416,43794276],"_post-options":[378006328,378007568,378007567],"coauthors":[378007519],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/james-bond-007-actors-in-running-ftr.jpg?fit=620%2C350","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc8i1J-j1c3","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4532823"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191609816"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4532823"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4532823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4998886,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4532823\/revisions\/4998886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4533118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4532823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4532823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4532823"},{"taxonomy":"_post-options","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post-options?post=4532823"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4532823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Aaron Taylor-Johnson<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Aaron-Taylor-Johnson-james-bond-shutter-embed.jpg?resize=620%2C1081\")
Sam Heughan<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/james-bond-007-actors-in-running-Sam-Heughan-embed2.jpg?w=620&resize=620%2C930\")
Idris Elba<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/james-bond-007-actors-in-running-idris-elba-embed1.jpg?w=620&resize=620%2C929\")
Lashana Lynch<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/james-bond-007-actors-in-running-Lashana-Lynch-embed5.jpg?w=620&resize=620%2C827\")
Tom Hiddleston<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/james-bond-007-actors-in-running-tom-hiddleston-embed4.jpg?w=620&resize=620%2C930\")
Henry Cavill<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/james-bond-007-actors-in-running-henry-Cavill-embed6.jpg?w=620&resize=620%2C975\")
Reg\u00e9-Jean Page<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/james-bond-007-actors-in-running-Rege-Jean-Page-embed3.jpg?w=620&resize=620%2C930\")