Advertisement

Jason Statham "Absolutely” Wants To Be The Next Bond

British action superstar Jason Statham has declared in no uncertain terms that he would love to be the next actor to play James Bond.

Speaking to The Guardian in promotion of his (vaguely) Bond-esque role in new comedy ‘Spy’ with Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne and Jude Law, the question inevitably arose of whether Statham would want to play the most iconic spy of them all.

- Furious 7 Set To Beat Avengers
- Harris Dodges Blame For Elba Bond Rumours
- Watch Spy Premiere Live Stream

Statham colourfully declared, “Could I do it? Abso-f***ing-lutely. Would I do it? Abso-f***ing-lutely. Is Daniel Craig a great Bond? Abso-f***ing-lutely.”

Then, more soberly, he continued, “Yeah, I’d make a decent Bond. But it’d be very, very different if I did it.”

Asked instead if he’d consider playing a Bond villain (let’s face it, he’s got the hairline for Blofeld), the Stath was more hesitant: “I don’t know if I wanna to do that. That’s not my thing. I’d rather play the other guy.”

It’s interesting to see Statham voice uncertainty about a villainous role, given that his biggest movie to date - ‘Fast and Furious 7,’ currently the fourth highest grossing box office hit of all time at a little over $1.5 billion - cast him as bad guy Deckard Shaw.

The notion of Jason Statham inheriting a role from Daniel Craig is a particularly pertinent one at this moment, as Statham is soon to start work on an adaptation of JJ Connolly’s novel ‘Viva La Madness’ - a follow-up to Connolly’s earlier novel ‘Layer Cake,’ which was of course filmed in 2004 by Matthew Vaughn, with Craig in the lead. The film is widely regarded as directly responsible for landing Craig the role of 007 in ‘Casino Royale.’

Nor is this the first time Statham has voiced interest in Bond. Prior to Craig’s casting in 2005, Statham - just then finding his feet as an action man, with the first two ‘Transporter’ movies under his belt - put himself forward as a potential successor to Pierce Brosnan, declaring, “I’m a massive fan of James Bond, and I’ve seen every one of the movies. If I was to do that most prestigious role, then I think I’d add a new, modern feel to it, definitely.”

However, there are no indications that Eon Productions ever contemplated the hard man actor for the legendary role at the time - and, given he’s turning 48 this year (indeed, he’s around eight months older than Craig), it seems profoundly unlikely they’d want to take him on once Craig vacates the role, which we assume is still at least a couple of years away.

Even so, Statham emphasises that despite his increasing years and his move in a more comedic direction with ‘Spy,’ he has no plans to step back from the genre that made him a household name.

“I really like doing action movies. It’s opened the door for me and I’ve had a great career out of it. Why not continue doing something I’ve always wanted to do?”

‘Spy’ hits UK cinemas this Friday, 5 June - whilst the next Bond movie, ‘SPECTRE,’ is out on 6 November.

- Waltz Denies Playing SPECTRE Boss
- Craig’s Star Wars Role Revealed
- Amazing SPECTRE Car Chase Footage

Picture Credit: 20th Century Fox, Universal