Idris Elba, who’s often mentioned as a top choice to step into the role of James Bond, said in a new interview that playing the long-running character is “not a goal” of his. However, he is grateful for the larger conversation surrounding the fan casting.
Elba, who was last month seen in the Universal release Beast, was recently a guest on The Shop. During the ensuing group discussion, the possibility of a Bond sign-on was broached, resulting in a wide-ranging back-and-forth that ultimately landed on the actor breaking down his personal feelings about the chatter.
“It is not a goal for my career,” Elba said when asked directly if he wants to take on the role. “I don’t think that, you know, playing Bond will satisfy some of my personal goals. It will definitely satisfy the will of a nation.”
Elaborating on the latter, Elba continued, noting that he has experiences all over the world in which a stranger will refer to him as Bond.
“I’m not gonna lie, every corner of the world I go, and I’m talking about different cultures, they always go, ‘Bond.’ And I feel it is beyond me at this junction. It’s beyond me,” he said. “You know, it’s not a question of, should I, do I, will I? It is what the will of the nation dictates sometimes. I’m not that guy but in everyone’s world, I might be. And that, job done. Because the truth is, you know, a lot of people are really seeing Idris playing Bond as the alternative Bond. And as long as that alternative is existing, that’s great for the growth of fucking casting.”
See more below. The Bond talk first starts up a little more than 18 minutes into the video.
In the aforementioned Beast, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, plays the recently widowed Dr. Nate Samuels. Speaking with Karla Rodriguez about what inspired him to take on the role after first reading the script, Elba pointed to “a real sense of nostalgia” as having been crucial in his decision.
“I come from an era where these sorts of films were the norm, like high-anxiety, ‘Run, chase, run, chase, look out, look behind you!’ You know what I mean? This was an opportunity for me to make a film like that,” Elba, whose character is on the run from a lion in the film, said.
For the full interview, which also sees Elba reflecting on the family dynamic at the center of the film’s story, hit this link.
