According to bookmaker William Hill PLC, it seems another big name has entered the ring to replace Daniel Craig as the next James Bond: Homeland‘s Damian Lewis.
From Matt Patches in Esquire:
“William Hill PLC, one of the largest bookmakers in the United Kingdom, hosts betting rings for major league sports, boxing matches, and horse races. They also entertain… gossamery competitions. This week, William Hill witnessed a spike in its “Who Will Replace Daniel Craig As James Bond?” board after a sizable gamble sent Homeland and Wolf Hall star Damian Lewis skyrocketing. The endorsement slashed his odds from 25/1 to 3/1, putting him right behind the much-discussed frontrunner, Idris Elba.
‘This is an unprecedented gamble, as for no apparent reason we have seen bets of up to £200 on Damian Lewis being named as the next Bond. This could well be significant and might herald the end of Daniel Craig as the world’s most famous spy,’ William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said in a statement.”
As mentioned, those odds still have Idris Elba listed as the front-runner. The same report also lists Tom Hardy (4/1), Henry Cavill (5/1), and Michael Fassbender (7/1) as other lead contenders. The list gets even wonkier, with Daniel Radcliffe (80/1), Brad Pitt (100/1), Jamie Foxx (125/1) and soccer star David Beckham (200/1) as potential candidates as well. Hardy, Cavill and Fassbender may be too busy, as they’re all attached to numerous projects for the foreseeable future.
Lewis is an interesting candidate. He’s a highly acclaimed actor, winning both a Golden Globe and an Emmy award in 2012 for his performance as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. He would also be the first redhead to play Bond. The downside would be he’s 44 years old, and I’d like to see producers go a bit younger, which is why I think British actor Jack O’Connell would be the best candidate.
For those who don’t know O’Connell, you’d probably recognize him if you’ve seen the Angelina Jolie helmed Unbroken, where he played Olympian turned prisoner of war Louis Zamperini. He won the 2014 BAFTA Rising Star award. He’s a rugged, talented actor who’s more than handsome enough to take on the role — but his main draw is, he may be the best young actor working today.
My first experience with O’Connell was watching him in the second series of the British teen drama Skins. Like Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road) in the series before him, O’Connell was the breakout actor from that version of the show. He played Cook, a loose cannon who covers up his own problems with anger. He’s absolutely brilliant in the role, where he could turn on being funny, alarmingly serious and completely unpredictable. He’s also cool as hell.
O’Connell’s rise from British teen star to Hollywood star came in the prison crime drama Starred Up. He played a 19-year-old who is transferred to a prison with his father. Again, he plays a struggling unhinged character who fought with the world around him. It was one of the best reviewed films of 2014 and put O’Connell’s face on the map.
Casting O’Connell as the next Bond would be a bold move. He doesn’t possess the star value right now that many of the other reported candidates have. But the 24-year-old is a dynamite actor, and has the chops both physically and emotionally to play the role. It would allow the series to do a soft restart and have a Bond that could relate to a younger generation.
Should it be Lewis, I’d be completely fine with that, but O’Connell would breathe new life into a Bond franchise. I’m not sure what Lewis would bring that’s all that different from our current Bond, Daniel Craig. O’Connell gets my vote.
