Jacob Elordi or Callum Turner Should Not Be James Bond, Says Ex-007 Casting Director: ‘We Know So Much About Them’ and the Actor Should Be ‘Out of the Blue’

Debbie McWilliams, the James Bond franchise’s longtime casting director, does not want to see rumored contenders Jacob Elordi, Callum Turner or Harris Dickinson pick up the 007 moniker. McWilliams worked on Bond movies for 40 years, starting with 1981’s “For Your Eyes Only” and running through 2021’s “No Time to Die,” and is responsible for casting Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. With McWilliams having retired before Amazon’s acquisition of the Bond franchise, the search for the next 007 actor falls to casting director Nina Gold and director Denis Villeneuve.

“I don’t want to see any of them as James Bond,” McWilliams recently told The Independent about Elordi, Turner and Dickinson, whose names continue to drive the rumor mill now that Amazon’s search for the next 007 is underway.

“It is absolutely essential that [Bond] retains a total enigma,” she explained. “I don’t want to see any of them as Bond because we now know so much about them. We want to know as little about them personally as possible, because that’s what spies are. We don’t need to know where he goes shopping or who his parents are, or where he lives. We never want to see him at home. And a vital element of the whole thing is his job description. He’s licensed to kill, and we have to believe that he can do that. If you don’t, then you’ve lost the audience.”