Who Will Play The Next James Bond? 8 Actors Who Actually Stand A Chance

• Amazon MGM Studios has confirmed the search for the next James Bond is underway
• Denis Villeneuve will direct the next 007 film, with Steven Knight writing the script.
• Idris Elba has ruled himself out, saying the franchise appears to be “going younger”
• We’ve cut the fantasy picks and looked at eight actors who actually make sense for the job

For years, the next James Bond conversation has been less a casting discussion and more a pub argument with better tailoring. Cavill, Hardy, Elba, Holland. Repeat until someone checks the bookies and we all pretend this hasn’t been the same conversation since Daniel Craig still had the keys to the Aston.

Now, the official search is underway.

Amazon MGM Studios has confirmed that casting for the next 007 film has begun, with Denis Villeneuve set to direct, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight writing the script, and Amy Pascal and David Heyman producing.

The only question now is who actually fits the job? Not who would look good in a tux. Not who the internet wanted five years ago. Not who has the shortest odds this week. But who could actually become Bond, James Bond.

Related: A Complete List of All James Bond 007 Watches

Why the Next James Bond Search is Different

This is the first Bond search of the Amazon era. After No Time to Die ended Daniel Craig’s run in 2021, Amazon MGM Studios took creative control of the franchise’s next chapter through a joint venture with long-time 007 custodians Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson in February 2025.

The studio is saying very little for now, only confirming: “The search for the next James Bond is underway. 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.”

While there’s no word on whether 007 is about to splinter off into a streaming-era content machine, at least not yet, it does change the casting logic. Bond is still one of cinema’s most valuable roles, but Amazon will be looking for more than a good jawline and a convincing walk back through the hotel lobby after a high-stakes poker game.

The next actor likely needs to be young enough to carry multiple films, established enough to reassure a global audience, and flexible enough to let a director like Villeneuve build something new around him. Too famous, and the actor swallows the part. Too unknown, and the marketing department starts sweating.

That younger Bond thinking is already showing up elsewhere, too. IO Interactive’s newly released 007 First Light follows a 26-year-old James Bond (much younger than anyone on our list) as he earns his place in MI6’s 00-Programme and whether he’s worthy of the Seamaster Diver 300M Chronograph.

It’s half the reason why some of the loudest names in the conversation feel like yesterday’s predictions.

Probably the most wished-for actor to play James Bond was Idris Elba. He already claimed to be the first Black Superman in Hobbs & Shaw, so why not the first Black James Bond? Well, he finally shut down those rumours after years of speculation, telling People he was “honestly not in the race ever”, adding that the franchise appears to be “going younger”.

Then there’s Henry Cavill, a man who looks like he was grown in a laboratory for the role, but then the same could be said for his portrayal of Superman in Man of Steel. Tom Hardy was obviously the pick back in 2015, and while we’d call it wishful thinking, there are still a few people backing Tom Holland off the strength of Marvel, Uncharted, and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. At 29 years old, even Spider-Man isn’t excluded from the age debate.

So, with the fantasy names moved to one side, here are the eight actors who could actually make sense as the next James Bond.

1. Callum Turner

Age: 36
Height: ~6 ft 1 in / 1.87m
Nationality: English

Callum Turner is probably the safest strong pick on the board.

He’s British, handsome, tall, charming, and recognisable without being overexposed. That’s an important distinction for whoever secures the role. Bond has never really needed the biggest star in the room. It might help push them to stardom, but more often than not, the role works best when the actor is known just enough to hold the screen. Just not too famous that audiences start critiquing it as a celebrity doing Bond cosplay.

Turner has built the right kind of resume for the role. Masters of the Air gave him old-school leading-man weight, while Fantastic Beasts, The Boys in the Boat and The Capture have kept him visible across film and television without locking him into one defining character.

He makes plenty of sense as James Bond, but perhaps he makes a little too much sense. Half the beauty of choosing someone to play 007 is that it often subverts expectations. Whether that’s an Australian playing the British spy, or someone with blonde hair and blue eyes, Amazon has an opportunity to surprise audiences with its pick, or find someone who already looks at home in the gun barrel sequence.

2. Harris Dickinson

Age: 29
Height: ~6 ft 2 in / 1.88m
Nationality: English

Harris Dickinson is another clean-cut option, but with a touch less showroom elegance than Turner. Dickinson has more edge, something audiences were drawn to during the Craig era, which left Bond bruised, angry and emotionally expensive. He can certainly pull on the charm when he wants to, but Dickinson is the better choice for the conflicted hero version of 007.

His career also gives him range without making him feel like he’s already done it all. Beach Rats, Triangle of Sadness, The Iron Claw, Babygirl and The King’s Man show an actor moving between indie credibility, prestige drama and larger commercial work. And with him already playing inside a spy-adjacent sandbox, transitioning from Kingsman to MI6 would be an easy transfer to approve.

Overall, Dickinson could bring a level of danger to the character again. Where Craig was vengeful, perhaps what Bond needs is to be a little more vicious.

3. Aaron Pierre

Age: 31
Height: ~6 ft 3 in / 1.91m
Nationality: English

Aaron Pierre’s case is control.

He has the voice, the physicality and that suave stillness that makes you the centre of the room, even if you’re trying to stay under the radar. For Bond, you can’t just look damn good in a tux. Your silent demeanour needs to carry the weight of someone who knows exactly how they plan to kill the villain and escape undetected, even though we know it always ends in either a shoot-out or a car chase.

Pierre’s profile has risen sharply through Rebel Ridge, Mufasa: The Lion King, Genius: MLK/X and the upcoming Lanterns. Like others on this list, he isn’t so famous that he would drown under audience expectations, but there’s enough momentum to keep him afloat.

Much like how Dickinson could bring the danger, Pierre could be the one to make Bond’s quiet confidence his most fatal attraction.

4. Damson Idris

Age: 34
Height: ~6 ft 1 in / 1.85m
Nationality: British-Nigerian

Damson Idris is another name that deserves more serious attention than the usual Bond chatter gives him.

The British actor broke through with Snowfall, where he spent years carrying a demanding crime drama without losing the character’s charm, menace or vulnerability, a terrific trio for playing 007. More recently, F1 has put him in a bigger, glossier Hollywood conversation, which lends him the credibility to take on the role without people questioning whether he’s ready to wield the Walther PPK.

Idris does look the part, but it’s what sits underneath that makes him a credible choice: charm, menace and enough vulnerability to make him more than another handsome name in the mix.

5. Tom Francis

Age: 26
Height: ~6 ft 2 in/ 1.88m
Nationality: English

Tom Francis makes sense if Amazon wants the next Bond announcement to feel like a discovery, not another famous face being fitted for the tux.

The British stage actor has reportedly auditioned for the role, which immediately separates him from the usual fan-cast pile. And while he hasn’t quite reached household name status, he does have some proper theatre credibility to prove his case, including an Olivier-winning turn in Sunset Boulevard and a Tony nomination.

Much like Sean Connery before Dr. No, this is an opportunity to make a name for yourself. He’s young, charismatic, trained and not currently tied down to other franchises. Francis makes a lot of sense in the long run.

6. Anthony Boyle

Age: 31
Height: ~5 ft 7 in / 1.70m
Nationality: Northern Irish

Anthony Boyle is the industry pick: less obvious to the public, but close enough to the right creative circles to be worth watching.

With the kind of background that could genuinely make him one of the more interesting James Bond interpretations, he comes to our list backed by serious stage work, an Olivier Award, a strong television presence and enough recent screen momentum to suggest he’s building towards his next big break.

He’s appeared in Masters of the Air and Manhunt, and leads House of Guinness, which comes with a notable Steven Knight connection. It’s a long way from splitting the G to Q Branch-issued equipment, but that sort of leap is exactly why Boyle is worth watching.

Definitely not the obvious pick, but one to consider the next time the conversation comes up about who should play Bond next.

7. Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Age: 35
Height: ~5 ft 11 in / 1.80m
Nationality: English

Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been doing laps around the Bond conversation for so long, it’s almost as if he already played the role in another timeline.

And for good reason, too. He has the action experience, franchise familiarity, physical credibility and genuine acting range. Kick-Ass, Bullet Train, Tenet, Nocturnal Animals, and Nowhere Boy. He’s not just a stunt guy with a pretty face.

The problem is that Taylor-Johnson felt like the answer to the previous version of the Bond search, particularly when Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were still understood to be steering the decision more directly.

With Amazon now shaping the next chapter, his candidacy starts to feel slightly dated. He’s still a credible choice, just not quite the frontrunner he used to be. Maybe in an alternate timeline.

8. Jacob Elordi

Age: 28
Height: ~6 ft 5 in / 1.96m
Nationality: Australian

Before writing this article, I assumed Jacob Elordi had already been chosen to play James Bond, which goes to show just how complicated the conversation can be.

The Australian actor has made a clean jump from teen-franchise fame to director-led cinema, with Priscilla, Saltburn, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights all helping push him into a more serious space. He has the height, the camera loves him, and he knows how to show up looking elegant, without someone calling him posh.

His popularity in the public conversation, however, may be his undoing. The obvious, or most popular pick, is rarely the one chosen to play James Bond. And while George Lazenby proved that an Aussie can be James Bond, at least for one movie, it’s hard to see Amazon passing up a British actor for His Majesty’s finest.

So, Who Makes the Most Sense as the Next James Bond?

Turner still looks like the safest option. A strong choice that will leave fans neither shaken nor stirred.

Dickinson is the dangerous option, and the one that could give the franchise a little of its bite back.

Pierre and Idris are the picks if Amazon wants a sharper modern edge, with one leaning into silent control and the other carrying a more immediate screen polish.

Francis and Boyle are the dark horse options that make more sense than they first appear. As for Taylor-Johnson and Elordi, the casting conversation may have passed them by. Credible, sure. But exciting enough for the next James Bond? Not quite.

Of course, Amazon MGM Studios could select someone completely unknown or call up Robert Pattinson and see how much room he has between Batman films. But if we had speculated, the decision probably won’t come down to fan polls or decade-old casting fantasies. The next James Bond will be chosen for his ability to fit into the universe without looking like he’s just visiting.

Bond has survived this long because the role changes hands before it becomes too comfortable. Sure, they technically brought back Connery for one last hurrah, but the next actor doesn’t need to be the biggest name. He needs to make the tux look like it belongs to him from the moment he appears on screen.