The James Bond Casting Rumors Have Come for Jacob Elordi

Death, taxes, and Bond casting rumours. These are the few constants in life. It is the discourse that fuels us in dry seasons, an endless cycle of speculation that, if nothing else, works as a handy indicator of which white man of the moment is the hot star to keep an eye on. In the many years I’ve been covering pop culture professionally, I’ve seen wave after wave of tall guys who look good in suits be called to the forefront of Bond gossip. In the past year alone, we’ve seen Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Callum Turner get their turns. Now, Jacob Elordi, come in, your time is up.

Yup, our new golden-toothed Heathcliff is the latest ‘could he be Bond’ figure of fascination. He’s certainly having his moment in the spotlight, between his Oscar nomination for Frankenstein and his turn in “Wuthering Heights”. So, why not Bond? He wouldn’t be the first Aussie to take on the part, but he would be one of the younger ones. It’d also require a more traditional kind of heroism than what Elordi is interested in, although 007 is certainly ripe with darkness. But surely he’s too tall? How does Bond blend into the crowd when he’s two heads above everyone else? At least give him a height-appropriate co-star (Elizabeth Debicki, anyone?)

Where did this rumour start? I kept seeing articles cite ‘reports’ but no solid source. Then I noticed it was from Deuxmoi, the notoriously lie-ridden anonymous gossip account that publishes literally every obvious fakery sent its way. That account’s gotten in a lot of trouble lately for sharing AI-generated images as fact, so I would obviously take anything they say with a crate of salt.

And yet this story just kept going. The betting sites have doubled down too, because everything is gambling now and the world is suffering for it. We’re already getting the think-pieces on whether or not Elordi would be a good Bond (The Independent says yes but The Telegraph says no.) I’m sure he’ll be awkwardly asked about it during a few interviews and his non-answers or denials will be taken as confirmation. Then we’ll move onto, I don’t know, Connor Storrie or something. The cosmic ballet goes on.

It takes nothing for a rumour to go mainstream. This is a pretty anodyne one that an Elordi fan probably submitted to give their fave some more good headlines, but it’s a reminder to be careful with your gossip. Watch out for AI, don’t listen to Deuxmoi, and call out the crazy.