Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy star Leo Woodall has thrown his name into the hat to be the next James Bond.
The actor, 28, who plays the new young love interest of the Renee Zellweger character in the latest Bridget Jones film and is also known for his roles in One Day, Prime Target and The White Lotus, has declared his interest in the highly coveted role as 007.
Speaking to Variety, Woodall was asked how he would feel about taking on the role, to which he quipped: “Every British actor’s getting that! That call hasn’t come yet.”
When pushed, though, he did concede that the role would interest him. “Yeah, I’d do Bond,” he said. “I’d love to do something like that. It doesn’t need to be saving the world, but I want to beat up some bad guys, you know?”
The producers behind the Bond franchise have yet to announce who will be replacing Daniel Craig, who wrapped up his stint as the iconic British spy after five films with 2021’s No Time To Die.
In November, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who oversee the Bond estate, said that the films will “change” with the new actor. “Every time we cast a new actor, the films change,” Wilson said. “It’s the excitement of a new bond, a new direction. Every one of these people who took on the role offered something new and different.”
Many names have been speculatively linked with the role, with Tom Hardy long having been considered among the favourites. The actor responded to the rumours as far back as 2017 and last year, he was named as the public’s second choice for the role, behind Idris Elba.
It was, however, reported in March 2024 that EON Production had offered Aaron Taylor-Johnson the job after he impressed Broccoli in a screen test. The actor was asked about the rumours in April, but swerved the question, as he had done multiple times previously. Neither he nor the producers have confirmed or denied the speculation.
Former Bond actor Pierce Brosnan also weighed in on the potential casting, showing his support for Taylor-Johnson.
One of the other actors considered among the frontrunners, Henry Cavill, said last year that he may be “too old now” to take on the role, despite his audition tape for the role having recently been uncovered, while Saoirse Ronan recently pitched for her partner Jack Lowden to get the nod.
In a four-star review of Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, NME described Woodall as being “impeccably cast”, concluding: “Mad About The Boy delivers the two things a lot of people really want from a Bridget Jones movie: belly laughs and emotional moments. Crucially, even with a passing reference to ‘Brat Summer‘, neither Bridget nor the film itself tries too hard to feel up-to-date. When her son floats the idea of a bedtime song, Bridget says he’ll have to ‘make do with some early Take That’. You won’t begrudge this ’90s relic her happy ending.”
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