Shaken, not stirred.
Taron Egerton has dropped out of the race to grow to be the following James Bond as Amazon MGM Studios eyes their new worldwide man of thriller.
Throughout a current interview with Collider, the British actor admitted that he wouldn’t be a “good choice” to play the following 007 after Daniel Craig, 57, gave up the enduring mantle following 2021’s “No Time to Die.”
“I think I’m too messy for that,” Egerton, 35, informed the outlet. “I really love James Bond and particularly Daniel Craig’s tenure. But I think I wouldn’t be good at it.”
“I think there are so many cool, younger actors who would be great for it,” the “Smoke” actor added. “I think it would be wasted on me, probably.”
Nonetheless, Egerton clarified that his opposition to enjoying the following Bond doesn’t imply he doesn’t “have aspirations and plans” to star in “more commercial” films sooner or later.
“I think I’m in a period in my life where I’ve been following the things that speak to me on a creative level a little bit more, but I’m sure I won’t feel that way forever,” Egerton defined.
“But James Bond is quite an undertaking, and I think, one, as far as I’m aware, nobody’s asking me to do it,” the “Rocketman” star added. “But also, it’s possibly not quite the thing that would make me happiest.”
“I do think it’s a big old undertaking, it kind of consumes your life, a role like that,” Egerton concluded.
The actor beforehand starred as Gary “Eggsy” Unwin, a trendy spy much like Bond, in director Matthew Vaughn’s 2014 movie “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and its 2017 sequel.
Though he didn’t seem within the 2021 prequel “The King’s Man,” Vaughn teased “Kingsman 3” and Egerton’s doable return throughout an occasion again in 2023.
As for 007, Egerton wouldn’t be the primary actor to distance himself from the function.
“Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding, 38, mentioned that enjoying James Bond is “every actor’s kind of nightmare” throughout an interview with Individuals final month.
“Why can’t they bring out more agents or more 00s? I think that would be so much more fun, because there just aren’t the restraints and the expectation,” he mentioned.
“Maybe I’m just a p—y. I don’t know,” Golding added. “But I think I would love it so much more if there wasn’t that overhanging cultural pressure.”
After acquiring artistic management of the franchise in February, Amazon MGM Studios introduced in June that “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve would helm the studio’s first Bond movie.
“I’m a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory,” Villeneuve, 57, mentioned after being named director. “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,” he added.
Whereas the lead function has not been crammed, the rumor mill has been in overdrive with ideas on which actors ought to be in competition. The listing consists of Henry Cavill, Harris Dickinson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Idris Elba and extra.
Pierce Brosnan, who performed the martini-sipping undercover agent earlier than Craig took over in 2006’s “Casino Royale,” insisted again in March that the brand new 007 have to be British.
Brosnan, 72, additionally counseled producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson for handing over the franchise’s artistic management to Amazon MGM.
“It takes great courage for them to let go,” he informed the Telegraph on the time.
“I hope that [Amazon] handles the work and the character with dignity and imagination and respect,” the “Die Another Day” star added.
