Hiddleston: have his Bond ambitions backfired?
Tom Hiddleston may have spoilt his bid to be the next 007, says
Even if you missed (where were you?), you won’t – you can’t – have missed the Tom Hiddleston hype. Last week, he was photographed stripped down to a pair of crisp white boxer shorts, the week before he was photographed embracing his new A-list girlfriend, Taylor Swift. He’s sexy, he’s sensitive, he’s steely: he is whatever we want him to be. The Rada-trained 35-yearold who came close to outshining Kenneth Branagh in his break-out role on the BBC’s has somehow managed to win over the thespians (who still rave about his Cassio in at the Donmar), the aunties and the sci-fi geeks for his role in
But what would he need to do to persuade Hollywood that he is up to replacing Daniel Craig as the next Bond? After he was spotted out with
director and Bond producer Barbara Broccoli last month, the bookmaker Coral suspended betting on him to be the next 007. Yet last week, there was talk that actor Aidan Turner may have pipped him to the post after a flurry of betting, including at least one four-figure wager, which shortened the odds on the dark horse landing one of the most coveted actor roles in Hollywood.
So does this really leave Tom out of the picture? Maybe we need to take a closer look at Hiddleston’s Bond ambition and how his moves could be playing out with the people that really matter… A key part in an adaptation of a Le Carré novel was never going to hurt.
was basically a sixpart audition for Bond and doing it Tom must have topped any other contenders,” says Hollywood entertainment reporter and stylist Marcellas Reynolds. “And although there’s always room for a last-minute outsider to swoop in, everyone out here thinks he’s the man.”
Gone are the days when all you had to do to win one of the most desirable roles in show business was gamble with producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli (something Roger Moore once attributed his stint as 007 to). Impressing the wife is always a good plan (it was Cubby’s wife Dana who persuaded her husband to give Sean Connery a go), as well as playing hard to get (Timothy Dalton turned down the role four times before finally giving in), but really you can’t beat stimulating 007 Inc’s tastebuds with footage of yourself in a similar detective/spy/action man role, looking great in a suit – just ask Pierce Brosnan, aka Remington Steele. When paparazzi pictures of Hiddleston embracing Pennsylvaniaborn pop princess Taylor Swift appeared, people were anxious to know two things: how did it happen – and why on earth was the actor wearing a pair of $425 designer suede desert boots on the beach? While the second question remains a mystery, the first has since been clarified: the pair got together at the Met Gala in New York last month, where they had a dance-off and promptly fell in love.
This grossly photogenic romance already looks like Bond stills (and Swift would make quite the Bond Woman, please, never to call her a “Bond Girl”) and so has understandably caused a fair few people to cruelly call out this pairing a “show-mance”. But who are we to judge? Surely having an A-list girlfriend can’t help but boost 007 acceptability ratings?
Wrong. Both Sam Mendes – the director of
and – and producer Barbara Broccoli are fans of discretion. And although this was something Hiddleston possessed in spades until a few weeks ago, maintaining even a smidge might be tricky now that the actor’s dating one of the biggest names in music – and a woman estimated to be worth approximately £17 million. “There isn’t a designer in the world who doesn’t want to throw clothes at Mr Hiddleston right now,” says Reynolds. “Not everyone may find him attractive, but we’ve been veering away from perfect cookie-cutter leading men like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt for a while, and he’s got a quirky, unconventional British thing going on – as well as the ability to look fantastic in a suit.”
However, it is how Hiddleston looks out of a suit which may now be crucial. In the latest issue of
magazine, published last week, the star lounges on a messy bed wearing just