Bond’s Ben Whishaw Wants Gay Actor to Replace Daniel Craig, and He Knows Two ‘Ideal’ Men – IndieWire
Much of the conversation surrounding who should replace Daniel Craig as the new James Bond after “No Time to Die” has centered on whether or not a woman should take over the role, but what about a gay man? That’s the casting pitch championed by Bond actor Ben Whishaw in a new interview with Attitude (via The Independent). Whishaw made his 007 debut as Q in the acclaimed “Skyfall,” and he reprised the role in follow-up films “Spectre” and “No Time to Die.”
“God, can you imagine? I mean, it would be quite an extraordinary thing,” Whishaw said about a gay Bond. “Of course I would like to see that. I really believe that we should be working towards a world where anyone can play anything and it would be really thrilling if it didn’t matter about someone’s sexuality to take on a role like this. I think that would be real progress.”
Whishaw added, “But we’ll see, we’ll see where we’re at. I’m amazed by how much has changed just in the last five or six years, so we’ll see.”
Whishaw already knows the openly gay British actors he would want to see as Bond: Luke Evans and “Bridgerton” breakout Jonathan Bailey. Whishaw called both men “ideal casting” for the 007 role. Bailey’s “Bridgerton” co-star Regé-Jean Page became a Bond pick in the betting odds after leading the first season on the Netflix smash hit. With Bailey moving into the lead role for “Bridgerton” Season 2, it could only be a matter of time before Bond buzz follows.
“They’re both actors who it seems would be really capable of doing it and would be ideal casting. And it would be thrilling to see either of them do it,” Whishaw said of Evans or Bailey tackling Bond. “I wonder if either of them would want to — because it’s not just the demands of the role, but it’s like the demands of being Bond in the world and what it symbolizes and how it would change your life.”
Bond fans in the U.S. can catch Whishaw in “No Time to Die” when the film opens in theaters nationwide October 8.
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