Bond casting director rules out a female 007

NEWS

10 July 2026

Newsdesk

James Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams has ruled out a woman or an actor of colour taking over the role of 007 from Daniel Craig.

The screen boss, who has cast the last 14 Bond movies, was asked about her thoughts surrounding rumours that the franchise could be brought up to date with a different type of actor in the lead role, and didn’t hold back with her response.

In an interview at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic, Debbie replied: “Not in my opinion. No.

“Ian Fleming wrote a character, and that’s the character that stays. That’s what I think.

“I mean, other people might think otherwise, but I don’t think that.”

Despite Debbie’s comments, she doesn’t actually have a say in who takes on the spy role in the next film as she retired before Amazon acquired the Bond franchise – meaning that casting director Nina Gold and director Denis Villeneuve will have the job of choosing the perfect 007.

However, in the Q A session at the film festival, Debbie was asked whether or not there were any specific characteristics she looked for when casting previous Bonds such as Daniel or Pierce Brosnan.

She said: “Well, I mean, I’ve said this several times before, but part of his job description is license to kill. So you’ve got to think that he could pick a gun up and shoot you.

“So he’s got to have a kind of threat about him, you know. I’m not sure that Pierce Brosnan had that particularly, but he kind of embodied a different side of him.

“He was very good looking and suave, and all the rest of it. And Daniel sort of changed that somewhat into the fact that you, you know … he was much tougher.”

She added that there’s “no set rule”, pointing out that “it’s whoever fits the bill, frankly”.

Debbie continued: “And it will be different for different directors and different producers. And, you know, it’s about to change dramatically, is all I can say.

And I’m not sure whether I’ll be paying my money to go and see it or not. But there isn’t an easy answer to that question.”