James Bond Casting Director: Younger Actors Have Lacked the ‘Gravitas’ and ‘Mental Capacity’ to Play 007

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director A new James Bond is on the way following Daniel Craig’s exit in “No Time to Die.” While rumors circulated last year that a younger actor was being courted and that the age of 007 would decrease considerably from Craig’s era, such claims were squashed by franchise producer Michael G.

Wilson. He assured fans the new Bond would a “thirty-something” actor, keeping with Craig’s age range when he started his run as 007 in 2006’s “Casino Royale.” In a new interview with Radio Times, longtime James Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams explained why younger actors usually don’t fit when it comes to finding a new James Bond. “When we started, it was a slightly different feel,” McWilliams said about the last search for a new 007 that ended with Craig’s selection. “We did look at a lot of younger actors, and I just don’t think they had the gravitas.

They didn’t have the experience, they didn’t have the mental capacity to take it on, because it’s not just the part they’re taking on, it’s a massive responsibility.” McWilliams added, “So we kind of scrubbed that idea and went back to the drawing board and started again.” The team settled on Craig, who was in his 30s at the time.

The decision did not receive unanimous praise. As McWilliams told Entertainment Weekly back in 2021, she “felt sorry” for Craig after his casting led to extreme blowback from press who thought Craig didn’t fit the part of Bond. “It was unbelievably negative, I have to say,” McWilliams said about the reaction to Craig’s casting. “The press response was awful and I felt so sorry for him, but in a funny kind of a way I think it almost spurred him on to do his damndest to prove everybody wrong.” “The whole way through the film,