Charlie Hunnam Is ‘100 Percent’ Down to Be the Next James Bond, But What About Those Marvel Rumors?
Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam has always “followed his North Star” when it comes to his career. He’s turned down major roles that most actors would love to play because he’s always been very mindful about his career trajectory. But Hunnam admits that there’s one character he would be “100 percent” open to playing – James Bond.
Charlie Hunnam turned down a major film role written just for him
Fans may not remember that Hunnam starred in Judd Apatow’s short-lived Fox comedy Undeclared back in the 2001- 2002 TV season. During that time, Hunnam became close friends with his co-star, Jason Segel.
After that series ended, the How I Met Your Mother star wrote the screenplay for Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Hunnam told Collider that Segel wrote the role of Aldous Snow just for him. At the time, the character was an actor instead of a rock star. He says that after the initial table read things went very well. But, he just knew he couldn’t play the part.
“I was in a dark night of the soul in my career, at that point, and felt as though I needed to seize the trajectory and that just wasn’t really aligning with – at that period of my life and career – what I wanted to be doing,” Hunnam explained. “Jason was one of my best friends, which is why he wrote the film for me, but I had to tell him, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m not gonna do this.'”
The role ended up going to Russell Brand, and Hunnam says he made the right decision to turn down the part. After seeing Brand’s performance, Hunnam says it was clear that he just needed to “step out of the way.”
Charlie Hunnam has no interest in joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe
As Cheat Sheet reported earlier this year, Hunnam has been linked to several different Marvel projects over the years. But, he hasn’t signed a deal with the studio. Rumors swirled that Marvel tried to cast him in Eternals, but it turned out not to be true.
Hunnam did audition for the role of Thor a decade ago, but the part never really felt right. He even performed screen tests and met with director Kenneth Branagh multiple times. But when Chris Hemsworth showed up, everything changed.
“I wasn’t 100 percent sure I wanted to do it and they weren’t 100 percent sure they wanted me to do it… Then they found Chris Hemsworth and that ended abruptly,” Hunnam explained.
In 2017, Hunnam said that he didn’t grow up a comic book fan, and he admitted he hadn’t seen any Marvel films. He said at the time that being part of the MCU was simply not part of his vision for his career and what he aspires to do.
The ‘Sons of Anarchy’ alum would be ‘flattered’ to play James Bond
Ahead of the release of his new film Jungleland, Hunnam talked with People magazine about future roles he would be interested in taking on. When asked if he would be interested in playing 007, Hunnam replied, “100 percent.”
“I would be so flattered and honored to be considered to play James Bond as an Englishman,” he adds. “But my intuition tells me that I shouldn’t be waiting for that phone call to come. I think there are many people ahead of me on that list.”
Hunnam is correct, as Lashana Lynch recently confirmed that she will be the next 007. Lynch will be the first woman and person of color to take on the role.
The actor formerly known as Jax Teller says that it’s “flattering” that fans would want to see him play the British agent. However, he made it clear that no one in the industry on a professional level has ever brought up the subject.
Hunnam doesn’t mind that fans keep bringing up his name. He told them to “please continue” talking about him playing James Bond because that could be “the genesis of things” to come.
Jungleland is currently playing in select theaters. It hits video on demand platforms on November 10.
