Actor Dev Patel (The Personal History of David Copperfield) sheds some light on why he isn't interested in portraying the next James Bond.
Dev Patel explained why he isn't interested in playing James Bond. Patel first came to prominence during his tenure on the drama series Skins and as the lead role in Slumdog Millionaire. Since then, Patel has appeared in hits like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Lion, the latter bringing him the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor, as well as an Oscar nomination. Since then, he has also starred in Modern Love and Hotel Mumbai. Patel is also the star of the upcoming Armando Iannucci-directed The Personal History of David Copperfield.
The talented actor's name has been mentioned among fans as someone who should play the next James Bond. Patel is one of many suggestions made as viable successors to Daniel Craig once his tenure is over. Many hope the next James Bond is a person of color or a woman (or both), with names like Idris Elba being popular picks. However, Elba has since claimed that he will not be the next James Bond. But maybe this would open up Dev Patel to take on the mantle of the MI-6 agent?
Patel sat down with IndieWire to discuss his upcoming role as David Copperfield and addressed the idea of playing the next Bond. Patel responds to fans calling for his casting as the next 007 by joking that he would only turn the film into a comedy. Patel continues, stating that there are deeper reasons for his reluctance to playing Bond. His full quote is below:
"My vote is for Idris on that one. I mean, you don't want me blasting through a door with a Walther PPK to try to save you. I’ll do the comedy version with Armando. I just think the best person for the role is what it comes down to. I also don't want to be gifted a role, just because of the tokenistic nature of me being a garnish — 'Let's sprinkle some diversity into this!' That doesn't make me feel good either. If it works for the story, and I feel like I can bring some truth out of this role or embody it well, then that's what it should come down to."
As exciting as the concept is for such a talented actor to take on this role, Patel makes many good points about the topic. Patel's sentiments about the risk of tokenization of POC within the film industry are concepts that many POC are forced to deal with in some capacity, both within entertainment and elsewhere. This is also weighted against the historically limited number of significant roles offered to people of color. It's sad that the actor even has to decide between choosing to portray an iconic character and avoiding being considered a token.
While Patel may not be the next James Bond, the actor still has many new exciting projects on the horizon. And this does not mean viewers won't get to see a POC (male or female) portray Bond in the future, as that's an underserviced audience clamoring to see themselves represented on screen as a super spy.