Tom Holland joins long tradition of Brit actors suggesting they should probably be James Bond
As far as state-sanctioned hired killers in fiction go, few sport the style or flair of Mr. James Bond. Regardless of the actor (okay, mostly regardless of the actor) 007 is a time-honored signifier of cool, casual charisma who only occasionally beats up women, or participates in yellowface, or otherwise embarrasses everyone involved. Is it any wonder that young performers—especially young British performers—dream of one day joining the ranks of Connery, Lazenby, Moore, or Brosnan in the role? Thus, it’s hard to fault Tom Holland—your friendly neighborhood Cherry star—for letting slip that he’d love to one day be shaken, not stirred, in the role of the iconic superspy.
This is per a recent Variety interview with Holland, mostly centered on his upcoming Russo Brothers-directed addiction drama Cherry. While talking about the process of making the film, his admiration for co-star Ciara Bravo, and nearly revealing critical plot details about Spider-Man 3—because he just can’t help himself, as far as we can tell—Holland also revealed that he shares every young British actor’s dream of shooting people from atop skis on behalf of Her Majesty’s Secret Service:
Ultimately, as a young British lad who loves cinema, I’d love to be James Bond. So, you know, I’m just putting that out there. I look pretty good in a suit.
You’d be forgiven at scoffing at this assertion, given the ways Holland’s most famous role take full advantage of his boyish, everyguy charm, a far cry from the attributes associated with the planet’s slickest covert operative. (If nothing else, you’d think all the people going, “Hey, is that Tom Holland?!” would get in the way of his stealthy infiltrations.) That being said, the actor’s been pushing hard against type of late, notably with Cherry. Also: Everybody said he couldn’t play Uncharted’s Nathan Drake, either, and now here we are a few years later, uh…Still wondering if Tom Holland can play Uncharted’s Nathan Drake. So, yeah: Time (and what would have to be a really snazzy new suit) will tell.