Josh O'Connor Says Bond Rumors Are a 'Bizarre Pinch-Me Moment'

The question on everyone's lips in Hollywood is "Who will be the next James Bond?" Amazon spent an eye-watering $1 billion on the iconic spy franchise, so the search for the next 007 was always going to be thorough. Producer Amy Pascal announced that the team's "methodical" approach to finding Bond should come to an end before the year, with the casting reportedly in its very final stages. With that in mind, online pundits and publications have narrowed down the shortlist to just a handful of names.

Some of these final names include Josh O'Connor, Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal, and Harris Dickinson, with Turner the outright favorite as we inch closer to the announcement. Odds have recently been slashed on Turner to be named the new 007, with Lowden in second place and O'Connor in third. Turner has even received the approval of former Bond Pierce Brosnan, who he said is "so strong" in a conversation about his The Only Living Boy in New York castmate. All three of the top contenders are 36 years old, so it seems that the casting teams have narrowed their search to the finest of margins.

In a new interview, third favorite O'Connor has finally broken his silence on the Bond rumors, admitting, like those before him, that he is "very honored" to be in the conversation. "It's an incredibly bizarre pinch-me moment…even being uttered in that same sentence and being considered for something like that," he said. "To be considered in that same sort of bracket is extraordinary," he added, though he couldn't give any hint as to whether or not he has been awarded the role. "But I am afraid, there is nothing to say beyond that."

Josh O'Connor Starred in Steven Spielberg's Sci-Fi Return

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The busy schedule of a Bond star would be no problem for O'Connor, who has appeared in several high-profile projects as of late. The most prominent was a lead role in Steven Spielberg's return to the sci-fi genre, alongside Emily Blunt and Colin Firth, in Disclosure Day. Prior to that, O'Connor took the lead in Rian Johnson's latest Knives Out movie (Wake Up Dead Man, which just so happens to feature two previous James Bond stars in Daniel Craig and Jeffrey Wright) for Netflix and in the 2025 heist film The Mastermind.