The popular action film franchise is based on a character created by author Ian Fleming for his James Bond book series. James Bond is one of the most iconic characters in cinematic history - and yet, only a handful of actors have been fortunate enough to tackle the part. But it’s not something I’ve expressed, like, ‘Yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond.’”ĭaniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan and More Stars Who Have Played James Bond Of course, if someone said to me, ‘Do you want to play James Bond?,’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah!’ That’s fascinating to me.

The Wire alum continued, “James Bond is a hugely coveted, iconic, beloved character that takes audiences on this massive escapism journey. “And then if I get it and it didn’t work or it did work, would it be because of the color of my skin? That’s a difficult position to put myself into when I don’t need to.”

“You just get disheartened when you get people from a generational point of view going, ‘It can’t be.’ And it really turns out to be the color of my skin,” Elba told Vanity Fair in 2019. Idris Elba has been repeatedly rumored to be a candidate for the job, but the Luther actor has shut down the possibility on numerous occasions. With Craig stepping down from the part, several actors have been rumored to take the reins. “I’ve had a really good run, and I think doing this movie was the right thing to do,” he told USA Today in 2019.