James Bond Casting Director Says Younger Actors Can't Play 007

Since Daniel Craig stepped away from his role as James Bond with No Time to Die, there’s been speculation that producers may want to try to breathe some new life into the long-running spy franchise by casting a relatively younger actor as 007 to try and attract new audiences. However, according to a new interview with Radio Times, casting director Debbie McWilliams seems pretty set on sticking with a man in his late 30s for the job.

McWilliams reflected on her search for a new Bond when casting Craig — who was 38 when he first stepped into the role with 2006’s Casino Royale — and insisted that the younger actors she looked at that time around just simply didn’t have what it takes to play the legendary secret agent.

“When we started, it was a slightly different feel,” McWilliams said. “We did look at a lot of younger actors, and I just don’t think they had the gravitas. They didn’t have the experience, they didn’t have the mental capacity to take it on, because it’s not just the part they’re taking on, it’s a massive responsibility. So we kind of scrubbed that idea and went back to the drawing board and started again.”

James Bond Producer Says Daniel Craig’s Replacement Will Definitely Be a British Man

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, producer Barbara Broccoli said the next Bond won’t be a woman

So there you have it. The next Bond will definitely not be in his 20s, but there is a good possibility he’ll be a relatively unknown actor. Tradition dictates as much within the series.

“Timothy Dalton was known, but he was known as a Shakespearean actor, really,” McWilliams said. “Pierce [Brosnan] was known, but that was basically from television. Roger Moore was known from television. Sean Connery wasn’t [known] — nobody had ever heard of him. A certain audience had heard of Daniel Craig, but much more the kind of independent cinema audience. He hadn’t done any huge commercial film at all, really — [2004 film] Layer Cake I suppose was the most popular, should we say, of the things he had done prior to Bond, but he wasn’t a hugely well-known actor.”