Most British actors within a certain age range have been linked to James Bond in the last 20 years, even while Daniel Craig was proving to be one of the best ever Bonds. If an actor ever goes near a vaguely spy-related role – such as Henry Cavill in The Man from UNCLE, or Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager – those rumours tend to go through the roof.
In the case of Taron Egerton, it was when he got his big break in one of his first ever movie roles – 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service. However, according to Egerton, he’s not involved in the conversations for Bond. When asked recently by Total Film(opens in new tab) about it, he said; “Yeah. I mean, I think they’ve already got someone, and it’s not me.”
Pushed on whether this is just based on instinct, Egerton said; “Yeah. I mean, I’ve never been a part of the conversations. I’ve never met the Broccolis. They’ve never enquired about me. I’ve just never been one of the guys that they’re looking at. I just don’t think I’m the right person for that. I think there’s much, much, much better candidates for that role than me. But, you know, I’d be a very willing audience member. They’re brilliant films.”
Egerton’s latest movie role is Tetris, in which he plays the Dutch businessman Henk Rogers – who negotiated the complicated rights to the game in Soviet Russia from its inventor Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov). The movie based on a true story features international figures such as Mikhail Gorbachev (Matthew Marsh) and Robert Maxwell (Roger Allam).
Speculation regarding the next Bond not being a man, or not being white has been rife for many years. While we wait to discover who will be the next Bond – Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Dev Patel, Rege-Jean Page, or perhaps a total unknown – check out our guide to the best spy movies.