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Ex-No Time to Die director Danny Boyle has shared his surprise pick for the actor to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond.
The Trainspotting director was briefly involved with the Bond cinematic universe, when he was announced to lead Craig’s final film as 007, No Time to Die, in March 2018. Just months later, however, he left the project due to creative differences with then-owners of the franchise, the Broccoli estate. Beasts of No Nation filmmaker Cary Joji Fukunaga took over directing duties, and Craig’s swan song was released in 2021.
Speaking in a new interview, Boyle opened up about parting ways with the franchise – and named British actor Jack O’Connell as his pick to take on the coveted role.
Derbyshire-born O’Connell got his big break in E4’s Skins as the rebellious James Cook. The 36-year-old has since starred in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, the Oscar-winning film Sinners, Boyle’s 28 Years Later, and the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, in which he portrayed the singer’s boyfriend Blake Fielder-Civil. He is currently starring in Boyle’s new film, Ink.
“They should cast Jack O’Connell as Bond,” Boyle said at a Zurich Film Festival screening of Ink. “Have you seen Back to Black? It’s a wonderful film. He plays the boyfriend and that’s an impossible part. It was an incredible performance.”
Elsewhere he addressed his previous vision for No Time to Die, stating: “When they asked me to do Bond, we came up with the story [with John Hodge] and they lost confidence in it. It’s a shame, because it could have been really good.”
Boyle added, however, that he had faith in Denis Villeneuve, who is directing the next Bond film. Praising his work on the recent Dune films, Boyle called Villeneuve “amazing”.
“Did you see that beginning of [Dune: Part Three], which they showed before The Odyssey?” he said. “God, if I was directing The Odyssey, I would have thought everybody would be disappointed in my film following it. But obviously, Chris Nolan has more confidence than I have.”
O’Connell’s name has previously been floated as a contender for Bond, but he’s been overtaken in recent months by the likes of Slow Horses star Jack Lowden, Masters of the Air actor Callum Turner, and Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi.
While fans may well have to wait until the end of the year to hear any official casting news, the new Bond has already been decided, according to Steven Knight, who is writing the next film. The Peaky Blinders creator said, earlier this month, that working on the script was proving to be “a bit easier” now that he knew who would be playing his dapper protagonist.
Meanwhile, Lowden’s Slow Horses co-star Gary Oldman also claimed that producers had already made their choice, and that his “fingers are crossed” for one particular name to emerge.
