Our pick for the next James Bond

With Daniel Craig’s final bond film, No Time to Die, premiering in a few days, we think it’s a good time to take off our thinking hat and just have a bit of fun speculating on who should replace Craig as the new Bond.

James Bond has been played by six actors so far, all of whom have brought different shades and energies to the iconic secret agent.

Sean Connery played what can only be known as the classic Bond; George Lazenby played the young pretty-boy Bond; Roger Moore played the comedic yet sweet-talker Bond; Timothy Dalton played the tough-as-nails Bond; Pierce Brosnan played the charming Bond.

And Daniel Craig defined the modern Bond with his rough and gruff interpretation of 007.

Following up Craig’s iconic take on Bond won’t be easy, but we think there are ten actors who might have what it takes.

10. Jack Lowden

(Image credit: Evening Standard)

One of the prerequisites for an actor to make this list is that they should not be too popular. Therefore, we rejected choices such as Tom Hiddleston or Tom Hardy, both of whom have been in multiple projects and carried hugely successful franchises with iconic performances. Jack Lowden is the opposite of those actors. He is an up-and-comer who has proved that he can act well. His young age is a significant plus as it means that he can play Bond for a long while.

9. Aiden Turner

(Image credit: Esquire)

Aiden Turner has the perfect look for a charming pretty-boy Bond. He could very well play a better version of Lazenby Bond. He could also try to match or potentially one-up the Brosnan Bond. But that’s also the problem with this pick. We can only imagine him playing derivatives of other Bonds.

8. Jack O’Connell

(Image credit: British GQ)

The reasons why we picked Jack O’Connell are very similar to why we picked Lowden. But O’Connell scored a bit higher for us because his acting credentials are just slightly more impressive.

7. Richard Madden

(Image credit: Variety)

Richard Madden seems like a great pick for 007 because of his befitting appearance and acting credentials. He scored higher than others for not only nailing the Bond look but also having a kind of guaranteed charisma. But then again, there are actors who ticked all the same boxes as Madden and have an edge over him.

6. Daniel Kaluuya

(Image credit: BuzzFeed)

The controversy surrounding a Black James Bond is not something upon which we want to tread lightly. The fact is, whether an actor should play James Bond is a matter of appearance, acting capability and familiarity with action and fight sequences. In that sense, Idris Elba is pretty perfect. But with his age soon touching 50, we think he’s a bit too old (by 50, a Bond should be in his final films). Daniel Kaluuya on the other hand nails the qualities and is just turning 32. Plenty of time to play Bond in a couple of films. Kaluuya also has a solemn quality to him, illustrated in Sicario and Get Out, that makes him a unique Bond. A quieter, almost every-man kind of Bond.

5. Dan Stevens

(Image credit: Hello Magazine)

Around this point, we’ll profess we care a lot more about actors who could bring something new to the table. We want a Bond that is iconic but also unique and refreshing. Aiden Turner and Richard Madden for instance seem too limited in their past performances to really stun us as 007. But Dan Stevens has played many different types of characters. For us, his performance in The Guest shows that he has the acting chops and the intensity to succeed Craig. He can play charm and he can play rough. He seems extraordinarily versatile. He would appear like a blank-slate Bond, upon which many new ideas can be scribbled.

4. Henry Golding

(Image credit: GQ)

Again, this would take us into the whole non-white Bond controversy. And again, we’re only picking actors if they seem to have the acting chops and ability to play 007. And look, Henry Golding has shown that he can play the right kind of charming. He has the looks, the physique, and even the right kind of voice. Most interestingly, he has done comedies before. He seems like the best choice for a new interpretation of Moore’s semi-comedic Bond. It would be a nice departure from the serious tones of the Craig films.

3. Jamie Dornan

(Image credit: News Letter)

The next three actors are those that we really want to push for. Jamie Dornan is a bit of a wild-card in the bunch. He has shown that he can act well. He has also shown that he can act poorly. He is at the right spot in his career where he might see playing 007 as a serious privilege. We’re not sure what kind of Bond he would play, but it would be very interesting to find out. It’s this sense of excitement and trial that would make him a fascinating pick.

2. Henry Cavill

(Image credit: Men's Health)

Cavill is, for us, the safest and the easily the best choice. The only reason we don’t put him as number one is that he is way too obvious that it seems boring to give him that spot. But our pretentious need to be ‘indie’ aside, Cavill is Bond. He has everything. He auditioned for the same part as Craig. He is just a little bit over the perfect age to play Bond – he is 38. But more than any other actors at this age, Cavill might be able to look this age into his 50s, like Tom Cruise. While he is tied to Clark Kent as a character, we don’t think anyone has found DCEU’s Superman franchise that compelling. It would make total sense for Cavill to transition to this franchise. He already passed the audition with his performances in The Man from U.N.C.L.E and Mission Impossible: Fallout.

If we were sitting in the room with the executives, we would say he is the best choice. From a marketing, risk-averting and artistic standpoint, Henry Cavill is the only right choice. And we’d be pretty confused if he doesn’t score the role soon after this.

1. Jonathan Groff

(Image credit: Pinterest)

We might be the only people to seriously consider this Hamilton star. I mean, he played King George for crying out loud. He’s also an American. Like Dornan, he is in that sense a wildcard. It is certainly difficult to imagine him as Bond, what with the silliness of I’ll Be Back Groff’s endlessly meme-able spitting during the performance still at large in the public imagination.

But we mustn’t forget, he has played a calm and calculating agent before – he played Holden in David Fincher’s Mindhunter. He is second-to-none in the acting department. If we must imagine him as a Bond, it would be the calmest and most calculating Bond so far. And honestly, that sounds interesting. The kind of Bond that is extremely capable, keeps to himself but can turn the charm on and off. Of all the actors, Groff seems most likely to bring something completely new to the table. And for us, something new is what this franchise needs.