Tom Hiddleston Would ‘Love’ To Play James Bond, But Not Everyone Thinks He Is A Good Fit
Tom Hiddleston is not known for being subtle.
The British actor, who is making young women drool over him in The Night Manager, the six-part adaptation of John Le Carre’s spy thriller, has expressed his desire to play the iconic spy character in no unambiguous terms. Although Tom Hardy and Idris Elba are tipped by bookmakers to be the next bond after Daniel Craig, Hiddleston almost threw his own name in the hat when he confessed to being a huge fan of the Bond series in an interview with The Sunday Times.
“I simply love the theme tune, the tropes and the mythology. I love the whole thing,” he said, before adding that he watched Spectre as soon as it was released. “If it ever came knocking, it would be an extraordinary opportunity. And I’m very aware of the physicality of the job. I would not take it lightly.”
#Hiddleston? #Elba? #Hardy? Who will be #Bond? Does it matter? via @guardianfilm https://t.co/gbeuJYbJbw pic.twitter.com/lOY1yk7QZQ
— BIFA (@BIFA_film) March 10, 2016
Hiddleston then went on to draw analogies between The Night Manger and the Bond franchise, saying that he could definitely prepare for the physicality aspect of the character if given a chance.
After his much-publicized confession, Tom Hiddleston’s odds of playing James Bond have been heavily slashed by bookmakers, with people saying that the British actor could emerge as the more likely replacement for Craig in the coming weeks.
A William Hill representative, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter,expressed his certainty at the fact that James Bond producers would definitely be keeping close tabs on Tom Hiddleston.
“There are some very Bond-ish elements to The Night Manager, and the producers of the next 007 movie will surely be keeping an eye on Hiddleston’s performance in case Daniel Craig decides to step down,”
While some British publications have taken Tom Hiddleston’s “come and get me” plea to James Bond producers seriously, arguing out the possible reasons why he could be considered as an apt replacement for Daniel Craig, other Bond fans are not particularly thrilled by the whole idea.
Writing in The Guardian, Ben Child said that Tom Hiddleston has a kind of old-world charm, which could help him essay the Bond character.
“There’s no doubt Hiddleston could pull it off: his new TV role shows off a surprising physicality, and the former Eton schoolboy has always been a hit with a certain kind of Norse deity-fancying filmgoer. He’s the right age, and we’ve already had a pretty good look at how he’d essay the role in those rather wonderful Jaguar adverts.”
But not everyone thinks so. For many, Tom Hiddleston could be a “catastrophic mistake” in the shoes of Bond. Despite Hiddleston being the new talk of the Hollywood tinsel town these days, with him starring in everything from the movie adaptation of J G Ballard’s novel High Rise to the latest installment of the King Kong franchise, his critics think he is too sweet for the role.
Shane Watson, writing in The Telegraph, said that the British actor definitely lacks the physicality needed to play Bond.
“But [Tom Hiddleston’s] just too nice and soft. He has that bashful little boy smile which makes him look sweeter than Roper’s son when the two of them are off buying ice creams. And he may be fit (actually SAS-trained fit) but he still has the kind of figure you expect to see tucked into some old-school rugby shorts. He’s just too Chariots of Fire generally. It’s a gene thing, which no amount of resistance training can disguise.”
It remains to be seen if Tom Hiddleston’s plea gets noticed by Bond producers, but a social media campaign to see him as the next James Bond is already underway. What is your opinion — do you think Hiddleston has what it takes to be the next oo7?
[Photo by Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images]
