Most people have an opinion about who should be the next James Bond. Gary Oldman is certain it’s going to be his Slow Horses costar Jack Lowden, while the writer of the latest Bond novels isn’t a fan of any of the front-runners. A bunch of people think it’ll be Callum Turner, while Aaron Taylor-Johnson seemed like a dead certainty earlier this year.
However, some people have a better understanding of what it takes to play 007—namely the actors who’ve already had starring roles in the franchise. We’ve rounded up everything that old-school cast members have said about Bond’s rebirth.
What do the other James Bonds think?
Let’s begin with none other than the Bond before Daniel Craig, the legendary Pierce Brosnan: the second non-British Bond and the first Irish Bond. He said that it’s a “given” that the next Bond should be British in an interview with The Telegraph in 2025, though he had said the year before to the BBC that “Cillian [Murphy] would do a magnificent job as James Bond,” at the Oscar Wilde Awards.
Brosnan had previously also endorsed Aaron Taylor-Johnson, whom he acted alongside in 2009, saying on RTÉ Radio the year before: “He was the greatest in [The Greatest]. So, yes, I read the news about his possibilities of being a Bond, so I would definitely tip my hat to the fellow. I think the man has the chops and the talent and the charisma to play Bond, very much so.”
Meanwhile, another Bond, Australian actor George Lazenby, told TMZ that he thought Taylor-Johnson could “handle the stunts” and would be a good choice if he could “do the character justice.”
But what about the villains?
Jonathan Pryce, who played the villain to Brosnan’s Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies, was also a fan of Taylor-Johnson. Speaking on Good Morning Britain in 2024, he said: “[Taylor-Johnson has] grown into a wonderful actor, and when he was a little younger, he did this extraordinary action film where he played a superhero. [...] Yeah, he’d be a great Bond.”
Daniel Craig’s first Bond outing was made most memorable by the inimitable Mads Mikkelsen, whose first choice for Bond was a favorite for a long time. “I think that Idris Elba was talked about for a while,” he once said. “I think he’s an amazing actor.” However, he did point out that Elba was nearly the same age as Craig, and that may set things back if the production was looking for a younger Bond this time around.
Andrew Scott, who also played a Bond adversary in Spectre, endorsed Paul Mescal, his All of Us Strangers costar, back in 2023 while the filming for Gladiator II was taking place. “He’d probably be a great James Bond,” Scott added.
Moneypenny and the Bond Girls
Meanwhile, Naomie Harris, the actress who last took on the role of Bond’s associate Moneypenny, has a different idea: “I think Regé-Jean Page would be amazing. I’d love Regé to be the next James Bond. But who knows? I don’t know what’s going to happen.” Michael Fassbender, who starred alongside Harris and Page in Black Bag and was also considered a potential Bond once upon a time, agreed with her endorsement.
Rosamund Pike, whose breakout part was as Bond girl Miranda Frost in Die Another Day, picked her Saltburn costar Jacob Elordi, saying: “He’s a fantastic actor. He certainly looks like a great Bond. I mean, why not?” Pike wasn’t the only Brosnan-era Bond girl with a take on who should step into Bond, however, as Michelle Yeoh of Tomorrow Never Dies would like to see someone a little less famous step into the role. “That’s the interesting thing about Bond,” she said. “They always find a very, very good actor but possibly not such a well-known, Oscar-winning actor.”
Not all of them feel so strongly, however. Léa Seydoux recently shared that she doesn’t want to get involved with any of the major Bond speculation but that the actor “needs to be layered.” She also expressed some skepticism about the franchise becoming “American” under the production of Amazon MGM Studios and asserted, “I hope they will keep the British spirit.”