James Bond can only be played by a pro.
Debbie McWilliams, the 007 franchise casting director who has been a member of the action films’ team since 1981, believes that younger stars don’t have the “experience” to portray the suave spy as opposed to older actors.
“When we started, it was a slightly different feel,” McWilliams told Radio Times recently.
“We did look at a lot of younger actors, and I just don’t think they had the gravitas.”
McWilliams said that with the big part comes big responsibility.
“They didn’t have the experience, they didn’t have the mental capacity to take it on, because it’s not just the part they’re taking on, it’s a massive responsibility,” she explained.
“So we kind of scrubbed that idea and went back to the drawing board and started again.”
Daniel Craig was the most recent A-lister to play Bond, having begun with 2006’s “Casino Royale” and ending his run with 2021’s “No Time To Die.”
The “Knives Out” star, 55, was in his mid-30s when he was first cast in the early 2000s.
The world of Bond started cranking out films in 1962 with the flick “Dr. No,” starring Sean Connery.
Since then, over 25 movies have been released across 60 years with stars like Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, David Niven, George Lazenby and Roger Moore taking on the iconic role.
McWilliams looked back on the medley of classic leading men, noting how each actor was different in their own way and how their level of notoriety didn’t really influence their casting.
“Timothy Dalton was known, but he was known as a Shakespearean actor, really. Pierce [Brosnan] was known, but that was basically from television. Roger Moore was known from television. Sean Connery wasn’t [known] – nobody had ever heard of him,” McWilliams said of the men who have transformed into Bond over the decades.
“A certain audience had heard of Daniel Craig, but much more the kind of independent cinema audience. He hadn’t done any huge commercial film at all, really – [2004 film] ‘Layer Cake’ I suppose was the most popular, should we say, of the things he had done prior to Bond, but he wasn’t a hugely well-known actor,” she said.
The hunt for the next super spy has been a great topic of discussion in recent years, with front-runners including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 32; Idris Elba, 50; and Regé-Jean Page, 34, being rumored to take on the role.
Franchise producer Michael G. Wilson also gave his take on how the next Bond shouldn’t be a member of the young Hollywood set.
He said at an event at the British Film Institute last October that producers “tried looking at younger people in the past.”
“But trying to visualize it doesn’t work,” Wilson said. “Remember, Bond’s already a veteran.”
“He’s had some experience. He’s a person who has been through the wars, so to speak,” he said.
“He’s probably been in the SAS or something. He isn’t some kid out of high school that you can bring in and start off. That’s why it works for a 30-something.”