Former James Bond star George Lazenby (“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”) shared that “Avengers: Age of Ultron” star Aaron Taylor-Johnson has everything he needs to take the 007 mantle. Lazenby told TMZ that Taylor-Johnson will be able to handle all the stunts necessary to shine in the role — and to handle the so-called “Bond girls.”
Rumors that Taylor-Johnson will be the next actor to portray Bond have swirled in recent days. The role was most recently played by Daniel Craig, who ended his run in 2021’s “No Time to Die.”
Producers have not commented on the Taylor-Johnson rumors and Lazenby himself noted that he didn’t think Taylor-Johnson had the part just yet. The one-time Bond actor noted that, even back in the 1960s, Lazenby had to go through a series of tests and auditions before landing the role.
Taylor-Johnson refused to address the rumors in an interview with Rolling Stone UK. He told the outlet, “I can only really talk about the things I’m going to show and tell. So, ‘The Fall Guy,’ ‘Nosferatu,’ ‘Kraven the Hunter.’ I’m here to promote those.
Of his future plans, the actor only offered, “I don’t feel like I need to have a future drawn out for me. I feel like: whatever’s drawn out for me, I can f–kin’ do better. It’s the best when you sometimes lose all inhibitions completely, and you feel like you’re dangling there, and the director has sort of got one finger on the back of your shirt, so you don’t fall.”
“It’s all about chasing that feeling. There’s nothing so exhilarating as that.”
Lazenby added that Bond has been played by people from throughout the British isles over the years, along with himself — Lazenby’s Australian.
In recent years it’s been thought Idris Elba was up for the part, though nothing ever came to fruition. In 2018, The Daily Star reported that Elba was on the brink of accepting the role — the news sent fans into a frenzy. The outlet’s report quoted director Antoine Fuqua, who said producer Barbara Broccoli wanted to bring diversity into the film’s casting.
“Idris could do it if he was in shape. You need a guy with physically strong presence. Idris has that,” Fuqua said at the time. However, that claim was soon denied by a representative for Fuqua, who told TheWrap, “He never had a conversation about this with Barbara.”
Even actor and director Ron Howard wasn’t immune from the fever that surrounded rumors of Elba’s casting. He tweeted at the time, “I’ve long rooted for this casting once the excellent Daniel Craig chooses to move on.”
Speculation has also swirled around former Superman actor Henry Cavill, particularly after he portrayed a similar elite spy in 2015’s “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”
