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Ever since Daniel Craig put away his tuxedo for good at the end of No Time to Die, speculation is rife as to who will become the seventh official 007. While the names of Tom Holland, Jacob Elordi, Idris Elba, Tom Hardy, Jamie Dorman, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harry Styles, Henry Cavill, Jack O’Connell, Henry Golding, Dev Patel, Jonathan Bailey , Jack Lowden, Nicholas Hoult, Regé-Jean Page or Taron Egerton have already been mentioned and that the British press announced last January that Aaron Taylor-Johnson had passed a casting, a new surprise guest could outdo them.
For British bookmakers, Paapa Essiedu is now even the big favorite to embody James Bond. A popularity rating that owes a lot to the statements of Colin Salmon, alias the chief of staff of M Charles Robinson in three films of the saga. “His Hamlet was extraordinary, and I think Paapa Essiedu is one of the best actors of his generation,” he said on Good Morning Britain. He has charm, brilliance, intelligence. In The Capturehe embodies a deputy and in what way… And Barbara (Broccoli) likes great actors.”
Given Colin Salmon’s ties to the producer, this statement did not go unnoticed.
The commitment of the 33-year-old actor, seen in Gangs of London and in black-mirror, would constitute an event. He would indeed become the first black James Bond. A change that many fans are calling for, but which also irritates part of the public. Idris Elba knows something about it, he who was inundated with racist messages as soon as his name was mentioned as a potential James Bond.
Paapa Essiedu, in any case, seems already ready. “Do you want to base it on whether James Bond will be black or not. . . or South Asian or East Asian?he said in an interview with Times. Does that mean diversity is a good thing if the profits end up in the pockets of the same people? It’s too multi-layered a test study, so it’s not a question I can answer or really want to answer.”
Remember the name of this Londoner: 007 or not, we will still talk a lot about him.