The starting gun was finally fired on the search for a new James Bond, as we reported last week. Now, the new Casting Director has dropped some hints about what she is looking for and where she is looking.
Nina Gold is British, and a veteran of casting for both the big and small screens, across intimate projects and huge, expansive blockbusters. Her resume includes Star Wars, Jurassic movies, and Game Of Thrones.
Now she has been speaking to Deadline about the hunt for a new 007. She says that even though she has just signed on to the movie, she was doing her advance work and has been keeping an eye on the potential candidates for a long time, including seeking out new hopefuls not yet on any internet shortlists.
She is not just looking for a clothes horse. The new Bond actor must be somebody who can act, but that also, as she puts it “oozes sex appeal”.
The Deadline journalist also revealed that he spotted Gold across a series of first-night stage play openings across London’s West End, including three nights on the bounce. When this was mentioned to Gold, she nodded politely.
Broccoli and Wilson, the former Bond producers, first spotted Daniel Craig in David Rabe’s Hurlyburly at the Old Vic, and opposite Michael Gambon in Caryl Churchill’s A Number at the Royal Court Theatre long before he starred in Layer Cake for Matthew Vaughn, which helped seal the deal.
The journalist, UK showbiz stalwart Baz Bamigboye, highlighted to her David Shields from James Graham’s award-winning Punch at the Young Vic and Bridgerton star Luke Thompson who appeared opposite James Norton and Omari Douglas in Ivo van Hove’s A Little Life.
Maybe Gold took notice? The Casting Director did say that, whoever gets chosen they muct be young enough to appear in at least three or four Bond movies, preferably more, and that she will make recommendations to Denis Villeneuve.
