Nicholas Pinnock, the actor known for roles in and the ABC legal series For Life and the recent BBC drama Two Weeks in August, has offered his thoughts on the next James Bond.
Speculation has ramped up in recent weeks over who is set to take on the famous spy role, with the next Bond film already in pre-production; the previous actor to play 007, Daniel Craig, made his final outing in 2021’s No Time To Die.
Pinnock, a London-born actor of Jamaican descent, suggested to the Radio Times that the character ought to stay true to his original cultural background – comparing Bond with BA Baracus, the character iconically played by Mr T in the hit series The A Team.
“There are some roles that need to stay as they are,” Pinnock said. “If Mr T were to change into someone of European descent tomorrow, there would be absolute outrage. And I can understand why, because he’s an iconic figure.”
“I grew up with James Bond looking and acting a certain way,” he continued. “I don’t want it to change. You go to watch a James Bond movie, you know that James Bond’s going to be this English, Scottish or Irish guy with a slick accent, with kick-arse moves, who gets all the ladies. Great! I want him to stay like that. I don’t think changing him and ticking a box is the answer.”
However, Pinnock also emphasised the need for studios to fund other similar blockbusters that front actors from different backgrounds – mentioning Idris Elba and Dev Patel, two actors who were once tipped to take over as 007.
“If they put posters up tomorrow saying ‘008’ in the same font, everybody would be at the cinema, they wouldn’t question it and they would love it,” Pinnock said. “And it could be me. It could be Idris Elba, it could be Dev Patel. It could be anybody of non-European descent and it would be amazing.”
Elba was long rumoured to be in the running to take over from Craig, although the Luther star, now 53, has since counted himself out.
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Currently, the person most hotly tipped to become the next Bond is Jack Lowden, the Scottish actor known for roles in the Apple TV+ spy series Slow Horses and Christopher Nolan’s wartime blockbuster Dunkirk.
Podcaster and author Richard Osman claimed on The Rest is Entertainment that he had heard Lowden is being “strongly considered” for the part, admitting: “It is definitively not a ‘he’s definitely got it’ thing. He is definitely being strongly considered. I think he’d be amazing.”
The other prominent contender at present seems to be Callum Turner, the actor who can be seen this month in the romcom One Night Only.
Pinnock can next be seen in the Sky boxing drama Fightland, premiering on Sky Atlantic at 9pm on Thursday 27 August.