Idris Elba Admits Playing James Bond Isn’t a Career Goal

After No Time To Die ended, Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond is over and the role is officially up for grabs. People have been throwing names in the ring for who they think would be good as the next 007. Some of the names included Henry Cavill, Richard Madden, Tom Hardy and even Idris Elba. The latter of the bunch has been a favorite for years due to his gravitas and natural swagger. Elba was recently revealed to be on the producers of the franchise’s mind for the future of the franchise, but it seems as if the actor probably doesn’t want to do the role. During a recent appearance, Elba revealed that playing James Bond doesn’t satisfy any of his goals.

“I’m not gonna lie, every corner of the world I go — and I’m talking about different cultures — they always go: ‘Bond!’ It is not a goal for my career,” Elba told Lebrun James’ The Shop podcast (via Deadline). “I don’t think that, you know, playing Bond will satisfy some of my personal goals.”

Elba previously appeared on Jemele Hill’s Is Unbothered, where he revealed that he doesn’t know anything about the James Bind role.

“I have no more answers for it. I just tell people ‘aw, don’t ask me that.’ Because a lot of times it’s really lazy journalism,” Elba explained. “And people try to use it as clickbait like ‘what’s he gonna say this time?’ I try to say the same things. Every now and then I just tease them, but every now and then I’ll give them some philosophy on why I don’t want to do it or why it’s a rumor. But most times now I tend not to talk about it.”

Bond Producer Barbara Broccoli previously told Deadline that there’s no front runner yet, because no one is in the running. They’re still very early in scripting out the next 007 iteration. Besides the fact that they only want men playing the character, there are a ton of avenues for the team to explore. 

“Nobody’s in the running,” Broccoli recently said about the next Bond star. “We’re working out where to go with him, we’re talking that through. There isn’t a script and we can’t come up with one until we decide how we’re going to approach the next film because, really, it’s a reinvention of Bond. We’re reinventing who he is and that takes time. I’d say that filming is at least two years away.”

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