Luke Evans has praised Daniel Craig and his series of James Bond movies for evolving the character beyond his past reputation for womanising.
Evans was speaking to The Independent about the character, who has been played by seven different actors across 27 films — starting with Sean Connery in 1962's Dr. No and most recently featuring Craig in his fifth and final Bond outing in last year's No Time to Die.
The character has had a reputation of womanising, with criticism against this side of the character increasing over the past few years. Craig's movies, however, have moved 007 somewhat past that. Craig's Bond had a romance with Léa Seydoux's Madeleine Swann over the course of the last two Bond movies, with the pair having a child in No Time to Die. And Evans has praised the recent movies for this development.
"We’re not in the Roger Moore [era] where he sleeps with five women per film, that’s not really what he’s about anymore," Evans said, explaining that audiences are "more interested in the spectacle, the story".
Evans himself has been tipped to take over the role of Bond from Craig, with rumours swirling, as ever, as to which actor might don the tux and pistol next. For his part, Evans would be up for it and is a big fan of the movies.
"It’s huge. What are they gonna do next? They’re so fantastic, I love the movies and whoever gets the role will have very big shoes to fill," he said.
Evans is just one of many actors who have been rumoured to be up for the role, with others including Henry Cavill, Tom Hiddleston, Regé-Jean Page and Idris Elba, although Elba seems to have ruled himself out of the running for the role.
The Bond producers, however, have said that the next Bond movie won't start production for at least another two years. So, we are a long way away from finding out who the next Bond might be, although the producers have ruled out casting a younger version of the character.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Jacob is a freelance writer who specialises in narrative TV and film.
He graduated from the University of Roehampton with an MA in Journalism and has written for several publications since, including Gold Derby, Insider, and Screen Daily.
Jacob has covered major events in the world of film and TV, including numerous BAFTA ceremonies and the Cannes Film Festival, while he's also been an awards expert for several publications, including Korea's Arirang. His particular areas of interest include Star Wars, the MCU, the Oscars, and Hugh Grant.
