The name’s Elba ... Idris Elba
‘It is time’ for a non-white star to play Bond, producer says
FANS of Idris Elba have long wanted him to take on the role of James Bond.
After all, the 45-year- old actor looks good in a dinner suit and has proved his credentials as an action man in countless screen roles.
And now his chances of becoming the first black 007 appear to have been given a significant boost.
The producer of the popular film series has reportedly said ‘it is time’ for a non-white actor to take the role.
Barbara Broccoli is said to have told her director friend Antoine Fuqua that she felt a black actor taking on the role ‘will happen eventually’.
The latest Bond film is due to be released towards the end of next year. It appears to be Daniel Craig’s last
‘People want that to happen’
outing in the role – the actor said in August last year that he wanted to ‘go out on a high note’.
American Mr Fuqua, 52, was quoted by the Daily Star as saying: ‘Idris could do it if he was really tight and in shape. He doesn’t look 45. No one would even know.’
The paper also claimed he said that he and Miss Broccoli then discussed who would be considered for the role.
Last night bookmaker Ladbrokes had Elba at 2/1 favourite to be the next Bond, followed by Tom Hardy at 3/1, James Norton at 4/1 and Aidan Turner at 7/ 1. The odds for any actress taking the role were 12/1.
At 45, Elba is five years younger than Daniel Craig and the same age as Roger Moore was when he starred in his first of eight Bond films, Live And Let Die, in 1973.
However, the Luther actor has repeatedly denied that he would like to play Bond. In May last year, Elba said: ‘I think I’m too old for that. Running around in cars and ladies and martinis, who wants to do that? Sounds terrible.
‘I keep saying if it were to happen it would be the will of a nation because there haven’t been any talks between me and the studio about any of that. But everywhere I go people want that to happen.’
And in October last year he told the New York Times: ‘It’s interesting that the James Bond thing continues. I think it’s more about, “We just want to have a black guy play James Bond” rather than “Idris Elba, the actor, play James Bond”.
‘Are we interested in having a Bond character other than being a male? It could be a woman – could be a black woman, could be a white woman … do something different with it, why not?’
It is unlikely a new Bond will be announced until Craig steps down from the role for good.
Many were surprised the actor agreed to do a further Bond film after he told the Guardian in 2015 that he would rather ‘slash my wrists’ than make another. Speaking after the release of Spectre, he said: ‘I’m over it at the moment. We’re done. All I want to do is move on.’
Star Wars actor John Boyega, 26, has also been tipped as a potential contender. He has hinted that he may want to play the part later on in his career but added he was ‘too young’ at the moment.