James Bond hopeful ‘firmly rejected’ by 007 bosses as new favourite emerges | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV

Phil Dunster, the ‘Ted Lasso’ star famed for his role as Jamie Tartt, has been “quite firmly” turned down for the role of James Bond. The actor disclosed that his agent had a conversation with Bond chief Barbara Broccoli about him taking over from Daniel Craig, but the door was firmly closed on that opportunity.

As reported by The Sun on Sunday, Phil shared on a podcast: “There was a conversation one of my agents had but they quite firmly shut the door in their face.”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Salke, the global head of Amazon MGM Studios, is working with Eon Productions and producers Barbara and Michael G. Wilson to chart the future course for the iconic spy.

Speaking to The Guardian, Salke revealed: “There are a lot of ideas [about potential actors] that have popped up that I thought are interesting.”

She expressed that there are numerous directions they could take and emphasized the strong partnership with Eon and the producers, stating, “We are not looking to disrupt the way those wonderful films are made. For us, we are taking their lead.”

Salke also mentioned that while fans are being patient, she doesn’t want an extensive gap between Bond movies, saying: “The global audience will be patient. We don’t want too much time between films, but we are not concerned at this point.”

Speculation has been rife about the next James Bond, with ‘Godzilla’ alum Aaron Taylor-Johnson reportedly in the mix for suiting up as the iconic spy. Even former Bond, Pierce Brosnan, who took on the mantle from 1995 to 2002, has thrown his support behind the 34 year old actor.

In a candid chat on ‘The Ray D’Arcy Show’ broadcasted on RTE Radio 1, Brosnan endorsed Aaron by saying: “I think the man has the chops and the talent and the charisma to play Bond, very much so.”

On the heels of Daniel Craig‘s swansong as Bond in the 2021 hit ‘No Time To Die’, the race for his successor is certainly heating up.

According to Gambling.com, Josh O’Connor has overtaken Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the bookies’ favourite with odds of 8-11.

It comes after the Hollywood Reporter predicted that O’Connor, best known for playing Prince Charles in The Crown and Patrick Zweig in Challengers, will be cast as Daniel Craig’s replacement later this year.