Young Actors Lack 'Mental Capacity' to Play James Bond Says Bond Casting Director

Younger actors just don’t have what it takes to play iconic British assassin James Bond, according to longtime casting director Debbie McWilliams.

McWilliams has been casting actors and actresses for the James Bond franchise since 1981, but finding the right man to play Bond, James Bond is a difficult task, she told Radio Times. Explaining how she eventually landed on Craig for his first outing as Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale, “We did look at a lot of younger actors. and I just don’t think they had the gravitas, they didn’t have the experience, they didn’t have the mental capacity to take it on.”

Craig left after 2021’s No Time to Die, and EON Productions has spent the last couple of years giving the franchise a rest while the company considers how to move forward with a younger actor.

At the time of Craig’s announcement, he was criticized by some as being “too ugly,” “too young,” and even “too blond” to play the role. But at least according to Yours Truly, Craig proved a perfect fit for a franchise that was moving away from gimmicky gadgets wielded by a slick superspy, and more towards a cold-blooded killer for Queen and country.

According to Radio Times, actors currently under consideration include Henry Cavill (age 39), Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page (34), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (32), Idris Elba (50), Slow Horses star Jack Lowden (32), Tom Hardy (45), and James Norton (37).

Looking at that list, all of the under-39 crowd have the same problem McWilliams encountered before she found Craig, who was 38 when Casino Royale was released: They lack the gravitas to convincingly fill Bond’s tuxedo.

Let’s not forget that before becoming a spy, Bond held the rank of commander in the Royal Navy. Commanders are typically in their late thirties or early forties — old enough to have a little intellectual and emotional heft. A 32-year-old pretty boy ain’t James Bond.

I think there’s something going on here that extends much further than just Bond.

“It looks like the Dawson’s Creek kids got dressed up for the Renaissance Fair,” I told my wife when I saw the trailer for Amazon’s billion-dollar Lord of the Rings prequel/spinoff, Rings of Power. I declined to watch even the first episode. Apparently, most viewers didn’t last much longer: Only 37% Of Viewers Finished Amazon’s ‘Rings Of Power,’ Which Is Very Bad.

Part of why it failed was the ’90s-basic-cable feel of the casting, which not even a massive production budget could overcome. The other part was the writing, done by people with no respect for Tolkien’s characters or his world, and little feel for his style.

That’s what the James Bond reboot is going to come down to: A script that gives us characters we not only like but, given the franchise’s long history, that we can respect. That’s going to require an actor — no matter what age — who makes you believe that he looks equally at home at a high-stakes baccarat table as he does putting a bullet in the bad guy’s brainpan.

If that means hiring an 40-plus actor, then let EON be wise enough to avoid chasing a “youth audience” — or worse, a woke “modern audience” — with a featherweight actor to play heavyweight assassin James Bond.

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