Never Say Never

Daniel Craig May Return as James Bond Because Tom Hiddleston Is ‘Too Smug’

Is Tom Hiddleston too annoying to be James Bond? Barbara Broccoli apparently thinks so—which may be why blue-eyed boy Daniel Craig is back in the frame.

He famously said he’d rather slash his wrists than play James Bond again.

However, sources tell Page Six that Daniel Craig is mulling a return to the iconic role one last time, amid reports that franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has decided Tom Hiddleston is “too smug and not tough enough” for the role.

It is widely rumored that Hiddleston’s brief, high-profile romance with Taylor Swift hurt his image, as did his irritating Golden Globes speech praising his work in his trip to South Sudan.

Still, a return to 007 will be quite an about-face for Craig.

In 2015, Craig was asked if he’d do the role again after finishing a difficult Spectre shoot, and replied, “I’d rather slash my wrists. I’m over it at the moment.”

When asked who should take over the role, he added, “Look, I don’t give a fuck.”

Hiddleston was widely tipped for the role, however, a source told Page Six: “Barbara Broccoli doesn’t like Tom Hiddleston, he’s a bit too smug and not tough enough to play James Bond.”

More importantly for Bond-watchers, it appears that Broccoli’s decision to dedicate herself to the financially thankless task of producing Craig’s Off-Broadway version of Othello has paid off. The show, starring Craig and David Oyelowo, won critical acclaim and earned Craig props for his “serious” acting skills.

As a result he is now, according to Page Six, getting closer to another big-bucks Bond role.

A Hollywood source told Page Six: “Daniel was very pleased with how Othello went and the great reviews. Now Daniel’s talks with Barbara are going in the right direction. They have a script—screenwriting duo Neal Purvis and Robert Wade [who’ve penned several Bond movies] are writing and they’ll go into production as soon as Daniel is ready to commit.”

Another source added, “Daniel had such a good time in Othello, produced by Barbara, that he’s ready to do a final Bond.”

Screenwriter Wade recently said the new film would be different from Spectre. “You’ve got to say something about Bond’s place in the world, which is Britain’s place in the world. But things are moving so quickly now, that becomes tricky. With people like [Donald] Trump, the Bond villain has become a reality.”

Reps for Craig and Broccoli didn’t comment.

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Tom SykesEuropean Editor at Large

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