'Selma' Actor David Oyelowo Will Be the First Black James Bond... on Audiobook
Many Hollywood observers and 007 fans thought there would never be a black actor in the role of James Bond.
Never say never again.
David Oyelowo has been tapped to play the dapper secret agent--rather it is his voice that will portray the character--in an audiobook.
Still, the British star who won praise for his role as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in "Selma" says he's "very honored."
"I am officially the only person on planet Earth who can legitimately say: 'I am the new James Bond' – even saying that name is the cinematic equivalent of doing the ‘to be or not to be’ speech," he tells The Guardian.
The 39-year-old describes his version of Bond as “a man who is very self-assured.”
British star Oyelowo will voice Bond and other characters for audiobook "Trigger Mortis," a 2015 novel written by Anthony Horowitz, commissioned by the Ian Fleming estate. The spy fiction novel takes place after the events of Bond scribe Ian Fleming's 1959 book "Goldfinger." The late 007 creator would be 107 years old today, and has penned 14 books in the Bond series.
“I was asked specifically by the Fleming estate, which is really special,” Oyelowo adds.
Chatter about a black actor replacing actor Daniel Craig as the coveted spy recently made headlines in January with Idris Elba's named as a top contender.
Hacked emails from then-Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal to Elizabeth Cantillon, former executive VP of production for Columbia Pictures, which distributes the Bond films, revealed that she endorsed the idea of a black actor taking the part: “Idris should be the next bond,” Pascal's email read.
The fallout that ensued was a mixed bag of reactions, with some fans supportive of the suave, handsome Elba taking the part, and others who want the character to reflect author Fleming's physical description of Bond.
In 2011 Elba told NPR that he did not want Bond to be defined by skin color.
“I just don’t want to be the black James Bond,” Elba explained. “Sean Connery wasn’t the Scottish James Bond and Daniel Craig wasn’t the blue-eyed James Bond, so if I played him, I don’t want to be called the black James Bond.”
"Spectre," the 24th film in the Bond franchise, starring Daniel Craig Naomie Harris, Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux, arrives in theaters on Nov. 6.
