Tom Hardy has played Bane, Max Rockatansky, and transformed himself into a plethora of memorable characters throughout his career (watch Bronson every day). Now that his star has risen to the level of Hollywood’s elite, the British actor only has a few big names left to check off on a hypothetical wish list. With Daniel Craig possibly stepping away from his duties as 007, could the next gig for Hardy be Bond? James Bond.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, the mush-mouthed actor simultaneously tiptoes around the idea of playing the iconic role due to superstition, then damns himself to never play the role thanks to enabling the causality of the very superstition that he’s trying to avoid. *Inception horn blares*
“You know, there’s a saying amongst us in the fraternity of acting, and in the fellowship of my peer group, that if you talk about it, you’re automatically out of the race. So I can’t possibly comment on that one! If I mention it, it’s gone.”
Then he goes on to mention it (kinda):
“But Chris Nolan, what a fantastic director for a Bond movie. Because Daniel [Craig] is so good, and what [Sam] Mendes and Barbara [Broccoli] have done has been so impressive, that it would be a very hard reimagination to follow after. I wonder what the next installment of that franchise would become, and I think when you mention someone like Christopher Nolan, that’s a very powerful figure to bring into that world who could bring something new and create something profound—again.”
It seems like the idea of playing James Bond — possibly with a somewhat indecipherable accent that Hardy is a master at creating — is something he’d be interested in if director Christopher Nolan is on board. Would this be a dark and gritty version of James Bond that would be even darker and grittier than Daniel Craig’s Bond? Would there be a plot that involves James Bond taking on various accents to blend into his surroundings? Would Tom Hardy even get the job? When was the last time we even saw Tom Hardy clean-shaven? All of these questions are important to consider as the search for the next Bond continues.
