"We know so much about them…": Ex-007 casting director Debbie McWilliams rejects Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner as Bond contenders

Washington [US], June 30 (ANI): As the search for the next James Bond officially gathers pace, former 007 casting director Debbie McWilliams has made it clear that she does not support some of the names dominating fan speculation.

McWilliams, who spent four decades casting Bond films, said actors Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner and Harris Dickinson should not inherit the iconic role because audiences already know too much about them, as per Variety.

McWilliams worked on the James Bond franchise for 40 years, beginning with 1981’s ‘For Your Eyes Only’ and continuing through 2021’s ‘No Time to Die’.

During her tenure, she cast Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig as the British spy.

Following her retirement and Amazon’s acquisition of the Bond franchise, the responsibility of casting the next 007 has shifted to casting director Nina Gold and director Denis Villeneuve.

In a recent interview, McWilliams dismissed the frequently rumoured contenders.

“I don’t want to see any of them as James Bond,” she said about Elordi, Turner and Dickinson, adding, “It is absolutely essential that [Bond] retains a total enigma,” as quoted by Variety.

Explaining her view, McWilliams added, “I don’t want to see any of them 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. We never want to see him at home. And a vital element of the whole thing is his job description. 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.”

McWilliams pointed to previous Bond actors as examples of why relative anonymity benefits the role.

“Timothy and Pierce weren’t particularly well known. Daniel had had a career in independent films and a fairly colourful romantic life beforehand, but he wasn’t a household name, and that helps enormously. I want to see somebody who is completely out of the blue,” she said, as per Variety.

The veteran casting director also reiterated that Bond should continue to be portrayed by a man, saying, “It’s how Ian Fleming wrote it. Why would you want to change that? They haven’t changed Harry Potter to Alice Potter or to a different ethnicity. That’s how it was written, and that’s how it should remain, I believe.”

Amazon confirmed in May that the search for the next Bond actor is officially underway. The studio said, “While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.”

The upcoming Bond film will be the 26th entry in the franchise, with Denis Villeneuve directing. Nina Gold, known for her work on ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Star Wars’, is handling casting.

Amy Pascal and David Heyman are producing the film, while ‘Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight is writing the screenplay. (ANI)

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