James Bond author Charlie Higson has said that if an actor is talked about as “being considered” as the next 007, “you know that they’ve been rejected”.
Higson is best known for his Young Bond series for teenagers, and has recently been commissioned by Ian Fleming Publication to write a new Bond story for the King’s coronation.
Speaking to the Press Association, Hugson was asked if he has heard anything about who the next actor to play Bond could be following the departure of Daniel Craig after 2021’s No Time To Die.
“As soon as the papers say, ‘So and so is being considered as the next James Bond’, you know that they’re not going to be the next James Bond, you know that they’ve been rejected,” he said.
“Eon (Productions) who make the films play their cards very close to the chest and a lot of times they really surprise people… in particular, Daniel Craig, nobody had any idea at all that he might be Bond.
He continued: “If you’d been asked in advance, you’d have said, ‘Daniel Craig, James Bond, surely not.’ But then he’s just so good in Casino Royale… any doubts you might have had immediately go out the window.
“So they’re pretty clever on that front and they will inevitably wait to make the announcement at the right time to get the maximum amount of publicity.”
Personally, Higson said that he would like to see Happy Valley star James Norton play Bond.
On Thursday (4 May), the author unveiled his new 007 adventure novel, titled On His Majesty’s Secret Service.
Set two days before the King’s coronation, it tells the story of Bond being tasked with thwarting a last-minute attempt to disrupt the ceremony by a new villain, the eccentric Athelstan of Wessex.
His book comes 60 years after the publication of James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s 10th novel, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which was published in 1963.
Fleming’s first novel Casino Royale was published in 1953, the year of the late Queen’s coronation.
The royal family have continued to be associated with Bond, with the late Queen famously featuring alongside Craig during a skit for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.
Additional reporting by Press Association
