There’s probably no role in Hollywood that comes with quite as much speculation, scrutiny, and downright ridiculous levels of attention as James Bond. Ever since Daniel Craig hung up his tuxedo following No Time to Die, practically every British actor under the age of 40 has found himself linked to the famous 007 designation at one point or another. But while some actors might be desperate to get their hands on the keys to the Aston Martin, one of the current frontrunners seems considerably less enthusiastic about discussing the possibility. Even if one of Hollywood’s greatest actors is rooting for him.
Jack Lowden, one of the actors who has been linked heavily with the role of the next Bond — indeed, reported to have been screen testing for the role by the trades — has spoken publicly about it for the first time, and it was quite a funny retort. Speaking with British GQ, the Scottish actor offered a rather exhausted “Oh, Christ” when asked about comments made by his Slow Horses co-star Gary Oldman, who made it clear he was hoping Lowden would get the job. Lowden was clearly touched by the support, even if he wasn’t about to start discussing his chances of becoming 007.
On this, it’s all very flattering. It’s nice to be mentioned – for any role – and I’m just not really going to add to the noise. It’s very nice, and Gary’s a sweetheart – it’s particularly lovely, coming from someone like him. But I don’t really listen to it.
On this, it’s all very flattering. It’s nice to be mentioned – for any role – and I’m just not really going to add to the noise. It’s very nice, and Gary’s a sweetheart – it’s particularly lovely, coming from someone like him. But I don’t really listen to it.
Lowden also noted that, if you’re a British actor of a certain age, speculation about becoming the new Bond is practically unavoidable. “As a young male actor, generally, the minute you’re not playing a zany artist type, the minute you’re in a suit, people fling it at you.”
Six actors. One role. Your answers point to the Bond who shares your presence, your method, and your particular way of carrying the weight of being the most dangerous person in the room.
You are the original — and you carry that fact without needing to announce it. There is an authority in the way you occupy a room that others spend careers trying to replicate.
- You don’t explain yourself, justify yourself, or soften yourself for anyone’s comfort. The confidence is structural, not performed.
- Connery’s Bond established everything — the tone, the danger, the cool — because Connery himself had the innate presence to make something that had never existed feel inevitable.
- You share that quality: the sense that you were always going to end up exactly here, doing exactly this.
- The name is Bond. In your case, it always was.
You understand something that more serious people miss: that wit is its own form of intelligence, and that making people laugh is not a retreat from danger but a way of mastering it.
- Moore’s Bond is underrated precisely because the effortlessness looks easy — and effortlessness is the hardest thing to manufacture.
- You have the same quality: a lightness that disarms people before they realise how sharp you actually are.
- The raised eyebrow, the perfectly timed quip, the refusal to be rattled — these are not affectations. They are a philosophy about how to move through a world that would like to take itself too seriously.
- You have never let it.
You took the role seriously when everyone wanted you to coast — and that refusal to take the easy version of anything is the most defining thing about you.
- Dalton’s Bond has genuine moral weight: he feels the cost of what he does, he has lines he won’t cross, and he is not interested in the version of himself that pretends otherwise.
- You share that intensity. You push harder than the situation technically requires, because you have a standard and you hold yourself to it.
- He was ahead of his time — the Bond the franchise wasn’t quite ready for yet, arriving exactly when he was meant to.
- You know what that feels like.
You are the complete package — and you know it, which is part of what makes you so effective and occasionally so infuriating to the people around you.
- Brosnan arrived at the role looking exactly like Bond was supposed to look, and he delivered on that expectation with a professionalism that made it seem effortless.
- You have the same quality: a smooth competence, a charm that operates like a precision instrument, and the ability to make even difficult things look like they weren’t.
- His era was the most commercially successful in the franchise’s history. There is a reason for that.
- The reason is that some people simply fit their moment perfectly. You are one of those people.
You stepped into something enormous with less preparation than anyone around you thought was sufficient — and you delivered something genuine anyway, which is the more impressive achievement.
- Lazenby’s single outing is, by many measures, one of the finest Bond films ever made — and he is not a small part of why.
- You share his quality of raw authenticity: less polished than the alternatives, more honest for it, capable of something real that technique alone can’t produce.
- He was underestimated, and then he wasn’t, and then history caught up with him.
- You are the kind of person history catches up with. Give it time.
You stripped everything back and found what was underneath — and what was underneath was harder, more honest, and more human than anyone expected.
- Craig’s Bond is the franchise’s most psychologically complete: a man doing a brutal job, carrying its costs imperfectly, capable of love and loss in ways that can’t be dismissed.
- You share that depth. You don’t hide behind the role or the charm or the suit — you let the work show what it actually costs.
- He was controversial from the moment he was announced and definitive by the time he was finished. The sceptics became the believers.
- That arc — of being underestimated and then undeniable — is one you know intimately.
Gary Oldman Thinks Jack Lowden Should Be the Next James Bond
Oldman, who stars alongside Lowden in Apple’s acclaimed espionage thriller Slow Horses, previously appeared to suggest that a decision had already been made, although he stopped short of revealing whether he actually knew the identity of the next Bond.
It’s been rumoured that he’s on the shortlist. We’re going to find out pretty soon, aren’t we? Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet. So my fingers are crossed for Jack.
</blockquote>It’s been rumoured that he’s on the shortlist. We’re going to find out pretty soon, aren’t we? Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet. So my fingers are crossed for Jack.
Amazon MGM Studios has not announced the next James Bond actor or a release date for Denis Villeneuve‘s upcoming reboot.
No Time to Die
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