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As the hunt for the next James Bond reaches its final stages, the franchise’s other cast members are unsure whether they’re going to be in the next film.
Since Daniel Craig’s casting as the spy in 2006’s Casino Royale, the series cast Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny and, after the death of Dame Judi Dench’s M in Skyfall, Ralph Fiennes as the head of MI6.
Another star who appeared in three of Craig’s four Bond films was Rory Kinnear, who played M’s chief of staff, Bill Tanner, in Quantum of Solace (2008) through to No Time to Die (2021).
Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner in the 007 franchise (Eon Productions)
When asked if he had heard anything about the new iteration of the franchise, which is being spearheaded by Amazon, he said he hadn’t, but is “sure” that some of the old guard might be asked to return.
“That’s the exciting thing – I’m sure they’ll want to hold on to some continuity, what it means to people,” Kinnear told The Times. “But there’ll be a whole different approach.”
Other actors to have played Bill Tanner in old Bond films include Michael Goodliffe (The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974), James Villiers (For Your Eyes Only, 1981) and Michael Kitchen in GoldenEye (1995) and The World is Not Enough (1999).
Kinnear, who said he would return if he got the call, also cast doubt over the current Bond casting rumours, which claim that Jacob Elordi, Slow Horses actor Jack Lowden and rising star Jack Barton (Heartstopper) are in final talks. Other contenders reportedly include Callum Turner and Harris Dickinson.
“Thirteen years ago, The Telegraph announced me as the new Doctor Who – I don’t know where that came from. It does tend to be people who aren’t being talked about,” he said.
Jack Lowden is reportedly in the mix to be the next James Bond (Getty)
Retired casting director Debbie McWilliams, who helped put Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig in the tuxedo over the years, told The Independent in June that “it is absolutely essential that [Bond] retains a total enigma,” adding: “I don’t want to see [Elordi, Turner, Dickinson et al] as Bond because we now know so much about them.
“We want to know as little about them personally as possible, because that’s what spies are. We don’t need to know where he goes shopping or who his parents are, or where he lives … He’s licensed to kill, and we have to believe that he can do that. If you don’t, then you’ve lost the audience.”
This chimed with reports that filmmaker Denis Villeneuve was looking for “an unknown” Brit, possibly in his late twenties or early thirties, to play 007.