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Rumored James Bond Star Warns Against Making 007 ‘Woke’

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Idris Elba
Photo Credit: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Idris Elba is done playing along with the fantasy that he was ever seriously in line to become the next James Bond.

In GQ, Elba finally dealt head-on with the Bond chatter that has followed him for more than a decade. The rumor followed him for so long that it became part of the modern Bond-casting circus.

Had the casting ever happened, the “Luther” star would have become the first black actor to play Ian Fleming’s famous spy.

But Elba said there was never a real deal behind the chatter. “It was never legit. It was always just a rumor,” Elba refuted.

Elba said the fantasy seemed to grow on its own, driven more by fans than by anyone actually making Bond decisions.

“I’ve always felt that it’s not a realistic thing,” he said. “James Bond was written how he was written for a reason. But I was complimented by it.”

For Elba, the global Bond machine also made the casting fantasy more complicated.

“And also, I think, in realistic terms, some markets just don’t go for that,” he said. “Bond is big all over the world. And [audiences] won’t [all] go for a black male, an African male, playing Bond. That’s not what they like in their culture. Period.”

Modernizing Bond was not the issue for Elba. Turning him into a message was.

“Bond is so unrealistic, so a hint of reality is good, but let’s not try and make it woke,” he said. “I think you’ve got to be pure to what it is: escapism. Don’t try and answer the world’s taste. Just be Bond.”

Elba has been trying to distance himself from the Bond talk for years. He was already nudging the conversation away from 007 during a 2023 appearance in Dubai.

“You know, a lot of people talk about another character that begins with ‘J’ and ends with ‘B,’ but I’m not going to be that guy. I’m going to be John Luther. That’s who I am,” he stated.

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In another 2023 interview, he argued that race had become an exhausting public fixation.

“If we spent half the time not talking about the differences and the similarities between us, the entire planet would have a shift in the way we deal with each other,” he said. “As humans, we are obsessed with race. And that obsession can really hinder people’s aspirations, hinder people’s growth.”

The future of Bond has been an open question since Craig’s version of the spy died in “No Time to Die.”

Craig himself once sounded open to a black 007. After Barack Obama won the White House in 2008, Craig pointed to the election as proof that the franchise could also break with tradition.

“If we can have a black U.S. president, we can have a black James Bond,” Craig said at the time.

Brosnan’s four-film run ended in 2002, but he later backed an even bigger break from Bond tradition.

In 2019, he said he liked the idea of handing the tux to a woman. “Get out of the way, guys, and put a woman up there,” Brosnan remarked.

Helen Mirren, however, has rejected the idea that Bond should be gender-swapped. Last year, during press for “The Thursday Murder Club,” Mirren took the opposite position.

“So many women have worked in that world. She’s a manifestation of a reality, that’s for sure,” Mirren said, before drawing a clear line. “More realistic. But not so much fun as Bond! I’m such a feminist, but James Bond has to be a guy. You can’t have a woman. It just doesn’t work.”

To Mirren, a female-led version would no longer be Bond at all. “James Bond has to be James Bond; otherwise it becomes something else,” Mirren added.

Former bond helmer Barbara Broccoli previously shot down Bond being played by a woman.

“He can be of any color, but he is male,” Barbara Broccoli commented Variety in 2019. “I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”

Amazon MGM Studios now controls the franchise, with Denis Villeneuve set to steer the next film.

Villeneuve framed the assignment as both a childhood dream and a major responsibility.

“Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007. I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr. No with Sean Connery,” Villeneuve said when the studio announced him.

“I’m a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honor the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come. This is a massive responsibility, but also, incredibly exciting for me and a huge honor.”

Steven Knight is writing the script, while Amy Pascal and David Heyman are producing.

The studio confirmed on X that the hunt for the next 007 has begun.

“The search for the next James Bond is underway,” the studio wrote. “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.”

One name now getting public support is Callum Turner. Clooney worked with Turner on “The Boys in the Boat,” his 2023 drama about the University of Washington rowing team.

“I hope Callum ends up being the next Bond,” Clooney said. “I think he would be a great Bond. He’s tall and handsome and charming and British, so he’s the perfect guy to do it.”

Turner, for his part, has treated the Bond buzz like a rumor happening somewhere far outside his control.

“I’ll tell you what’s so funny about the Bond thing: Even your best friends ask you, people text you that you haven’t spoken to for 10 years — and you know nothing!” Turner said.

“It’s such a weird thing of something happening and nothing happening at all. I genuinely know nothing. I just find it quite amusing.”

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