Bond portrayers in the past have bounced around the globe a bit, beginning with Scot Sean Connery before moving on to Brit Roger Moore, Aussie George Lazenby, Wales’ own Timothy Dalton, then off to Ireland with Pierce Brosnan, before landing on five-timer Daniel Craig, yet another Brit. But for the next James Bond, Brosnan thinks it’s time to return to Ireland, albeit much farther south. So who does Brosnan think could be the next 007? The name’s Murphy, Cillian Murphy.
Speaking with BBC at the Oscar Wilde Awards – so named after the Irish wit – Pierce Brosnan said, “Cillian would do a magnificent job as James Bond on His Majesty’s Secret Service.” This even sounds like Brosnan might be calling for a redo on that 1969 entry, which featured Lazenby’s one-off shot at 007. This wouldn’t be too surprising considering Brosnan has less been enthusiastic about Lazenby compared to other portrayers, saying, “George Lazenby, with mighty flair and a valiant heart, had given it his best.” And we all know how that “best” turned out…
Cillian Murphy was also in attendance at the event, which took place just ahead of the 96th Academy Awards, where he is the odds-on favorite to win Best Actor. With that, if Cillian Murphy were to ever take the role of James Bond – and does win on Sunday – he would be the only person to play the character to already have an Oscar. (Connery won Best Supporting Actor for The Untouchables years after handing over his Aston Martin keys.)
Speaking of Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan has discussed the possibilities of directing a James Bond movie before, saying, in part, “The influence of those movies in my filmography is embarrassingly apparent. It would be an amazing privilege to do one.” It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for Nolan to want to cast Murphy, either, seeing as they’ve worked together six times already. Then again, while Brosnan may be genuinely pulling for Murphy or just tossing out his name as the man of the hour, at 47, he has very likely aged out.
What do you think of the idea of Cillian Murphy taking on James Bond? Would he be a good fit or is he simply too old to give it a go? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!