Daniel Kaluuya not interested in being the next James Bond — but he would play a villain

With the position of James Bond open following Daniel Craig’s explosive swan song in 2021’s No Time to Die, the internet has been engaged in furious speculation on who should take over the license to kill.

One name that has been bandied about by both fans and movie media is Daniel Kaluuya. The British actor, who earned an Oscar for his fiery role as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah, has been mentioned as a potential 007 since at least 2018, after his breakout performance in Jordan Peele’s social horror sensation Get Out.

But in a new interview with Yahoo Entertainment, the 33-year-old Brit tells us he has little interest in being the seventh James Bond.

“I’d do a villain,” Kaluuya says while promoting his newest collaboration with Peele, the UFO thriller Nope, where he was joined by co-star Keke Palmer.

The actor, who appeared surprised to learn he has long been been fancasted in the part, shrugs at the thought of taking over for Craig. “Mmm,” he offers up simply at first.

“I just don’t if I’d want to watch my version of James Bond. That’s just me. That’s just me, I go, ‘I don’t wanna watch that.’ But I’d want to watch a villain. I’d do that. I think that would be fun.”

Palmer, however, appeared all for it.

Story continues

“I’m so ready for that,” she says. “He’s such a specific actor that if he did do 007, he would come at it with such a unique [approach]. That’s why I would want to see it, because [he] would bring something so fresh to it. But I also get you want to play the villain.”

Though Bond has always been played by white men, there has been a vocal group of fans who are petitioning for Black actor to take the role, most notably Kaluuya’s fellow London native Idris Elba. Elba has been fielding questions about the possibility for more than a decade, and has pivoted between genuine interest and genuine doubt during that time span. In January, Bond producer Barbara Broccoli said Elba is “part of the conversation” as the franchise’s gatekeepers search for their new tux-sporting, martini-sipping superspy. Broccoli has also said the next Bond could be “any ethnicity,” though has to be British.

While fans of Kaluuya may be disappointed to hear he won’t be throwing his hat in the ring any time soon, the actor is content to follow his own muse.

“I’m chilling, man,” he says. “I’m chilling in this ring. I’m keeping everything on in this ring that I’m in.”

Nope opens July 22.

Watch the trailer: