MANILA, Philippines — Award-winning actor Tom Hanks has made his pick for who he wants to be the next James Bond actor after Daniel Craig held up the gun, and it's perennial frontrunner Idris Elba.
The 66-year-old Hanks was promoting the release of his debut novel "The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece" based on his career in an interview with the BBC when he mentioned his selection for the next 007.
Related Stories
"Understand this. James Bond has a licence to kill," Hanks said, a reference to the 1989 Bond film starring Timothy Dalton. "I would issue that licence to Idris Elba just based on the work that I've seen him do."
Elba has long been pegged to succeed Craig as the Bond after he latter wrapped up his portrayal of the famous spy in 2020's "No Time to Die" after four previous films.
Despite denying the speculations of his chances to become Bond, in his latest film "Luther: The Fallen Sun," his character refuses a martini — one of Bond's famous attributes is having his martinis "shaken, not stirred."
"From my perspective, there's never been any sort of truth to any of it. It's a compliment and it's an honor, but it’s not a truth," Elba previously told The Guardian about his close relationship to Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
Other names being thrown out as a possible next Bond include Henry Cavill, Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, Michael Fassbender, Richard Madden, Damian Lewis, Regé-Jean Page, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Jamie Dornan.
RELATED: Liam Neeson turns down James Bond after wife threatened not to marry him