According to reports, four actors are battling it out to take on the role of perhaps the most famous British man in all fictional history. If The Hollywood Reporter and Variety’s sources are correct, three of the contenders are Callum Turner, Jack Lowden and Josh O’Connor, all 36, alongside a fourth mystery actor of a mystery age.
The Hollywood Reporter has also said that despite the heavy rotation of the rumor mill, Jacob Elordi, 29, 6’5″, will NOT be in the running. Jack O’Connell, killer of the supernatural and the supernatural himself in 28 Years Later and Sinners, respectively, is also, allegedly out of the running. Babygirl actor Harris Dickinson and X-Men star Nicholas Hoult are also no longer contenders.
The four men reportedly undertook screen tests in London this weekend, trialed in everything from dialogue to stunt work to camera presence. Allegedly, again, there was one ‘clear favorite’. Unfortunately, we won’t know who for a while – Amy Pascal, who’s co-producing the franchise under Amazon MGM, said she expected the announcement would be made before the end of the year.
In the meantime, here’s a closer look at the three named contenders, their previous roles and just how well they might fit into Daniel Craig’s tuxedo.
Callum Turner
London-born Callum Turner, husband of Dua Lipa, has had a fair share of leading man roles already, recently playing a hopeless romantic in One Night Only, a sullen fisherman in Rose of Nevada and the dashing dead husband of Elizabeth Olsen in Eternity.
But Turner’s TV credits have demonstrated his ability to handle action. His turn as a former soldier in The Capture earned him a BAFTA nomination and his portrayal of Major John ‘Bucky’ Egan, a bombardier for the U.S. Army Air Forces in Masters of the Air, garnered widespread rave reviews. He’s also shared screen time with the other Bond contenders, starring in Emma alongside O’Connor and appearing with Lowden in War & Peace.
Turner probably has the most blockbuster experience of the three, and his wedding photos looked straight out of a Bond classic, but the current odds place him in second place.
Jack Lowden
Of the three, Jack Lowden has the most Bond-applicable résumé, having spent four years playing MI5 agent River Cartwright in Slow Horses, shooting bad guys, running down busy streets and airport terminals and having several semi-inappropriate workplace romances. Lowden has also played an RAF pilot in Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic, Dunkirk, and a hunter in his BAFTA-nominated role as Vaughn in Netflix’s psychological thriller, Calibre.
As well as action roles, Lowden is well-versed as a romantic lead, playing Mr. Darcy in Netflix’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which could help in the newer, slightly more monogamous era of Bond.
Lowden is currently the bookie favorite to win. Whether he’ll get to keep his Scottish twang, like Sean Connery, is another question.
Josh O’Connor
O’Connor faces the longest odds of the three, perhaps due to his lack of leading action man experience. Most of O’Connor’s movie credits are character-driven, slow-paced indies. But his range is vast, having played everything from an isolated sheep farmer to a failing father turned art thief to a cocky, love-triangle-ing tennis player.
His portrayal of the restrained, brooding Prince Charles in The Crown won him an Emmy, suggesting that, despite his limited action experience, he’ll certainly have the skills to deliver 007’s dry witticisms. And he really pulled off a linen suit in La Chimera, so the Bond-on-a-tropical-island scenes on would be in good hands.
Three convincing contenders, one mystery actor and one very coveted Aston Martin. We’ll just have to wait and see who gets handed the keys.
