By India McCarty
Most actors would jump at the chance to play James Bond, but TOP GUN: MAVERICK star Glen Powell has a very good reason for why he wouldn’t take the role.
“I’m Texan,” he said in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “A Texan should not play James Bond.”
Powell added, “My family and I joke around, I can play Jimmy Bond, but I should not be playing James Bond. Get an authentic Brit for that job. That’s who belongs in that tuxedo.”
Glen Powell to those who think he should be the next #JamesBond: “I’m Texan. A Texan should not play James Bond. My family and I joke around, I can play Jimmy Bond, but I should not be playing James Bond. Get an authentic Brit for that job” https://t.co/7Iq28bWCLY pic.twitter.com/HYsY5kQNWD
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 20, 2025
Besides, Powell has plenty of other exciting projects on his plate at the moment. The TWISTERS star is currently filming a still-untitled fantasy project from writer and director J.J. Abrams. He’s also promoting THE RUNNING MAN, a new adaptation of the popular Stephen King novel.
“There are some sick shots in this movie,” Powell told Empire of the project. “I talked to Edgar [Wright, the director] about this. I was like, ‘I need people to know that it’s me sprinting.’ So he designed an amazing shot in the movie where I can fully unleash. I didn’t want people to be like, ‘He was good at everything except for running!’”
He continued, “We’re hanging on the side of buildings, we’re jumping off of moving cars and trains. An elevator plummets while I’m inside of it. There’s an amazing airplane fight sequence that is just incredible.”
Powell isn’t the only American actor who has publicly stated their disinterest in taking on the role of James Bond. DUNE actor Austin Butler also recently addressed the rumors he might be starring as 007.
“No calls as far as that goes,” he told Hits Radio UK. “Would I play James Bond? I don’t think that would be a good idea. Because I’m an American. I can do an accent but that would be kind of sacrilegious. Those movies meant so much to me, but I think that it’s gotta be somebody who is from [England].”
However, Butler said he was absolutely on board to play a Bond “villain,” adding, “That would be alright. I’d do that.”
An actor who is on board to appear in the new Bond movie? Pierce Brosnan.
“I don’t think anyone wants to see a craggy, 72-year-old Bond, but if [Denis] Villeneuve [the movie’s director] had something up his sleeve I would look at it in a heartbeat,” the former JAMES BOND actor told Radio Times. “Why not? It’s great entertainment. It could be lots of laughs. Bald caps, prosthetics…who knows?”
The new face of the BOND franchise is still unknown, but based on Powell and Butler’s answers, it’s looking pretty likely the actor won’t be American.
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