This post contains discussion of body image issues.
Taron Egerton: suave guy. You’ve seen him play a spy of sorts in the Kingsman films; he definitely knows his way around espionage.
I mean, look at this picture. It kind of just screams “James Bond,” doesn’t it?
Indeed, Taron has a rather…Bond-esque way of being, and if you’re on social media, you’ve probably seen a few people say, “Hey, why can’t this guy be the next James Bond?”
Not so fast, says Taron. The actor recently gave an interview to the Telegraph (via People), and he threw a 007-sized bucket of cold water on the rumors that he’d even be interested in stepping into Daniel Craig’s shoes.
“I don’t think I’m the right choice,” Taron explained — and he went on to suggest that his reasoning has to do with his own body image.
“You have to be consistently statuesque to be that guy,” he said. “And that’s something that I am still striving for. I’ve always struggled with my weight.”
Now, let’s keep it real — the idea that you have to look a certain way to play James Bond is, on its face, ridiculous. I’m not really sure anyone has ever watched a James Bond film and asked themselves, “Yes, but how much does he weigh?” It’s just not a thing, at all.
To be fair, he also had other, less absurd reasons for not wanting to take on the role. Taron also explained that being Bond “is a bit like being a brand ambassador as well as being an actor.”
“And that could be really fun in microcosm, but I’m sure I read that [producer] Barbara Broccoli said that it’s a 15-year commitment,” he said.
But, like, let’s not get ahead of ourselves — because Taron himself says he’s not even in the running for the role, at this point at least. “It’s sort of irrelevant how I feel about it, anyway, because I can tell you there have been zero phone calls,” he said.
We’ll see how this all turns out!
