Pierce Brosnan, the suave former 007 himself, has thrown his support behind Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a potential successor to the iconic James Bond role. While Daniel Craig might be keeping mum on the matter, Brosnan didn’t hold back when asked about the 34-year-old actor’s rumored candidacy.
“I think he would be very good,” Brosnan told Yahoo Entertainment, reflecting on his experience working with Taylor-Johnson in the 2009 drama The Greatest. “I cast him in one of the movies I made a long time ago called The Greatest, actually, and he played ‘the greatest.’”
In the Shana Feste-directed film, Brosnan and Susan Sarandon played grieving parents whose son Bennett (Taylor-Johnson) dies in a car crash. Brosnan recalled Taylor-Johnson’s performance with admiration: “This young man came on the set and took the space, filled the space with passion and energy. So yeah, I think if he wished it, wanted it, and got it, he would be great.”
Brosnan, who starred as James Bond in GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002), also shared his well-wishes for the franchise’s future. With Amazon MGM Studios now at the helm, alongside returning producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, Brosnan expressed confidence in the team.
At CinemaCon, Amazon MGM’s Courtenay Valenti and Sue Kroll announced that Amy Pascal and David Heyman are producing the next Bond film. “They are both in London getting started,” Valenti said, promising a “fresh, exhilarating new chapter” for the franchise.
While the next Bond remains a mystery, Brosnan’s endorsement of Taylor-Johnson adds fuel to the speculation. Could the Kick-Ass star be the next to don the tuxedo? Only time—and perhaps a martini—will tell.
