Tom Hardy Has One Eye On James Bond, Has Even Picked Out A Director

There’s been plenty of speculation regarding the next James Bond film. At the moment we’re still not too sure whether or not Daniel Craig will have a fifth outing as 007, while it was previously rumored that the franchise’s producers are keen for the 25th film of the series to be shot and released sooner rather than later.

If Daniel Craig decides that the time is right to bring his time as the world’s most famous spy to an end then there will be plenty of actors in line to replace him. The likes of Damian Lewis, Tom Hiddleston, and Idris Elba have long been linked with the role, but now Tom Hardy, another of the favorites, has now come out and discussed just how much he’d love the opportunity to star as James Bond.

Clearly, the Taboo and The Revenant actor has had one eye on the part, too, because Tom Hardy has even picked out the director that he wants to oversee a James Bond film if he’s actually cast. Tom Hardy made these comments to The Daily Beast, while he also admitted that merely mentioning the fact that he wanted to star as James Bond could be enough to put him out of the running for the part. Tom Hardy started off by remarking,

“You know, there’s a saying amongst us in the fraternity of acting, and in the fellowship of my peer group, that if you talk about it you’re automatically out of the race. So I can’t possibly comment on that one! If I mention it, it’s gone.”

But once he’d started chatting about the possibility of portraying James Bond, Tom Hardy clearly got rather excited. Because at this point the 39-year-old actor immediately declared that director Christopher Nolan, who he has worked on The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, and Dunkirk with, would be his first choice to oversee a James Bond film. Tom Hardy continued,

“But Chris Nolan, what a fantastic director for a Bond movie. Because Daniel [Craig] is so good, and what [Sam] Mendes and Barbara [Broccoli] have done has been so impressive, that it would be a very hard reimagination to follow after. I wonder what the next installment of that franchise would become, and I think when you mention someone like Christopher Nolan, that’s a very powerful figure to bring into that world who could bring something new and create something profound—again.”

Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Interstellar director Christopher Nolan previously teased to Stephen Smith of Newsnight, via Den Of Geek, back in October 2015 that he’d be interested in working on a James Bond film.

While he didn’t come out and admit that it’s on his bucket list, Nolan did remark,

“It’s a great franchise, and I grew up absolutely loving it. They seem to be doing fine without me.”

Nolan’s response provoked Stephen Smith to tell the director, “That’s not a no,” to which Christopher Nolan remarked, “It’s not a no, but it’s not a yes.”

Tom Hardy has long been open about just how much he wants to portray James Bond. Around the same time as Christopher Nolan’s comments above, Tom Hardy remarked, via the Evening Standard, when asked whether he’d like to become the seventh incarnation of the character,

“I would love to do it. Who wouldn’t? If I did get the chance, I would smash it out the park. But there are a load of British actors who could do just the same. There is a long list of talent in this country who would love the honour just as much as me and could do it just as well.”

[Featured Image by BBC]