Dominic Cooper: ‘A gay Bond would be excellent’
The 'Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again' star says he'd "love" to take over the role of 007 from Daniel Craig.
By Will Stroude
Dominic Cooper might have reprised his role as Sky in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again after 10 years, but there’s another longstanding role the British star has his eye on.
The London-born actor, who currently stars in Amazon original sci-fi series Preacher, admits he’d “love” to take over the role of James Bond when Daniel Craig eventually hangs up his Walther PPK.
Cooper, who played original Bond author Ian Fleming in 2014 BBC drama Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond, says he’d relish the chance to portray 007 on the big screen.
“He’s an astonishing character”, Cooper admits in Attitude’s August issue – available to download and in shops now.
“I’ve been privileged enough to play Ian Fleming, I learned a lot about him, the attitude he had towards and what he thought of the character.
Dominic Cooper, shot by Jenny Brough exclusively for Attitude’s August issue
“What I love about the Broccoli family [who control the rights to Bond] and what they’ve done with the franchise is that they’ve changed him continuously and still made it appealing to a modern-day audience.”
The History Boys star continues: “I love James Bond, he plays in every English boy’s childhood memory. I had the original Aston Martin DB5 as a toy car.
“As long as I felt I could bring something else to it, do something dynamic, I’d love the challenge.”
Much has been made of the idea of casting a black actor in the role of 007 in recent years, and it seems Dominic is more than up for new iterations of the character breaking the traditional Bond mould.
Asked whether he can ever see a time where James Bond was portrayed as gay, Dominic replies: “I hope so. It would be excellent.
“Why not. Why on Earth not?”
Read the full interview with Dominic in our new August issue. Buy now and take advantage of our best-ever subscription offers: 3 issues for £3 in print, 13 issues for £19.99 to download to any device.