Idris Elba says he 'honestly' wasn't a contender to play James Bond
Idris Elba says he 'honestly' wasn't a contender to play James Bond
Kim Willis, USA TODAYMon, May 25, 2026 at 7:51 PM UTC
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Turns out Idris Elba never really was a contender to be our James Bond, no matter how much fans wanted it.The suave British star, 53, told People he "honestly" wasn't ever in the conversation to portray 007 after Amazon MGM Studios recently revealed the search was on to cast a new actor as the superspy.“My name's not getting thrown out, no way. They're going younger,” Elba said at the premiere of his new movie "Masters of the Universe" on May 18, in which he plays Man-at-Arms/Duncan. “And I wish them all the luck of the world. I can't wait − it's going to be amazing.”
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Idris Elba, seen here on the "Masters of the Universe" red carpet, says he's not in play to star as James Bond.
“I'm honestly not in the race ever,” he added. “I wasn't in the race in the first place.”Idris has been touted for years as a possible successor to Daniel Craig, as have Henry Cavill, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Tom Hardy and Henry Golding. The storied role, based on the books by Ian Fleming, has been previously played by Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, Timothy Dalton, David Niven and George Lazenby, in addition to Craig.
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"The search for the next James Bond is underway," Amazon MGM announced in a statement on May 14, after years of speculation. "While we don't plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we're excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right."The first new Bond movie since 2021's "No Time to Die" will be directed by "Dune" director Denis Villeneuve.
Contributing: Anika Reed, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Idris Elba says James Bond role was never happening for him
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
