Every actor wants to be the next James Bond after Daniel Craig vacated the role — including Joe Alwyn.
During the Oscars ceremony in 2025, Alwyn, who is 34 years old, was interviewed by Variety. He was asked if he would be interested in taking on the iconic role of James Bond. Alwyn responded by saying, “Oh, wow. Who wouldn’t throw their hat in the ring? You know?”
Alwyn, who was at the Oscars both as a presenter and as part of the cast of The Brutalist, playfully remarked that he would accept the role “if you’re offering!” In a light-hearted moment, when questioned about his preference for martinis being either shaken or stirred, Alwyn humorously replied, “I like both. I do, I do.”
After the release of No Time to Die in 2021, Craig, aged 57, bid farewell to his portrayal of James Bond. He first assumed the role in 2006 and appeared in five Bond films during his tenure. Craig joined the ranks of actors such as Barry Nelson, Sean Connery, Bob Simmons, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan who have brought Ian Fleming’s character to life on the big screen.
Now the question becomes who is the next James Bond? Producers have remained tight-lipped about how soon someone else will be stepping into Craig’s shoes, with producer Barbara Broccoli saying no one is being considered until “the dust has settled” on Craig’s time with the franchise.
“I always say, you can only be in love with one person at a time,” Broccoli told Total Film in October 2020 when asked about Bond’s future. “Once [No Time to Die]’s come out, then some time will pass, and then we’ll have to get on to the business of the future. But for now, we just cannot think about anything beyond Daniel.”
The film producer shared some of the criteria that went into choosing their next leading man.
“James Bond can be of any color, but he is male,” she said in an interview with Variety in 2020. “I believe we should be creating new characters for women — strong female characters. I’m not particularly interested in taking a male character and having a woman play it. I think women are far more interesting than that.”
Craig has also shown his support for a woman taking on that specific role, telling Radio Times in September 2021, “The answer to that is very simple. There should simply be better parts for women and actors of color. Why should a woman play James Bond when there should be a part just as good as James Bond, but for a woman?”
In addition to Alwyn, actors such as Regé-Jean Page, Tom Hardy, Daniel Kaluuya, Sam Heughan, Idris Elba, Henry Cavill and more have weighed in on potentially being considered for the role in the future.
