It takes a certain calibre of leading man to play the part of James Bond. Seriously, not just anyone can step into the tuxedo of 007 and helm that kind of franchise (as George Lazenby proved). You need to be pretty manly for a start: James Bond is a bloke's bloke first and foremost, but there's more to it than just sheer testosterone. Bond requires a certain amount of effortless cool and charisma, the authority and seriousness to hold the audience's attention, as well as a sardonic dry wit and a certain sexual magnetism. Plus, he needs to look good in black tie. Finding someone with all those attributes is no mean feat.
The current Bond, English actor Daniel Craig, has been open about the fact that he's pretty damn tired of the role by now, and is getting a little too old to convincingly play the part of the world's most famous spy, and many people have been clamouring for a person of colour to give Bond a go. So who is effortlessly cool and charismatic, serious yet witty, and also sexy as hell? Well, most people name Idris Elba as their first choice, and he seems to be the current favourite for the job.
Indeed, rumours have been floating around for years that Elba is all set to be the next James Bond. The trouble is, Elba himself doesn't sound like he's interested in the part at all. In fact, if certain interviews are to be believed, then it sounds as though he honestly wishes that we would all stop asking about it all the time. However, while attending that Golden Globes last night, Elba took to social media to troll his fans, by taking a selfie while sat next to Daniel Craig. The Instagram story shows Craig staring at Elba while pretending to be angry, with the caption: "awkward."
This isn't the first time that Idris has trolled social media users over the Bond role either. Back in August of 2018, Elba left fans shaken and stirred by cryptically writing: "My name's Elba, Idris Elba." Twitter exploded; with many assuming that this was Elba's way of making a public announcement that he was going to take up Craig's mantle. However, he left them all disappointed by following up this intial announcement by adding: "Don't believe the HYPE."
In a recent interview with British newspaper The Independent regarding the role of Bond, Elba stated: "It's interesting that the James Bond thing continues to go. I think it's more about, we just want to have a black guy play James Bond rather than Idris Elba, the actor, play James Bond. That's the part that I'm like, 'Ugh, come on.’"
To be honest, I can see his point. Although it would be cool to cast Elba as Bond, it's not cool to cast him out of tokenism - especially if the man himself doesn't want the gig.
