Gary Oldman says the next James Bond has already been selected. Amazon MGM has yet to reveal Daniel Craig’s successor, but Oldman’s support for his Slow Horses co-star Jack Lowden has given one long-rumored candidate considerably more attention.
Gary Oldman may have revealed more about the next James Bond than he intended. During an interview with Canada’s The Morning Show, the actor was asked about reports linking his Slow Horses co-star Jack Lowden to 007.
“It’s been rumored that he’s on the shortlist,” Oldman said, before adding that the choice had already been made. He finished with a qualification that matters: his “fingers are crossed for Jack.” Lowden has therefore not been confirmed as Bond. Oldman appears to believe the casting process is complete while expressing his own preference for who ultimately gets announced.
Amazon MGM Studios has made no official casting announcement. What is confirmed is the creative team surrounding the next film: Denis Villeneuve will direct, Steven Knight is writing the screenplay, while Amy Pascal and David Heyman are producing.
Jack Lowden Already Knows the Spy Genre
Lowden has played MI5 agent River Cartwright in Slow Horses since the series began in 2022. His experience in the spy genre makes the Bond speculation easy to understand, although River bears little resemblance to 007.
Cartwright begins the series after a serious professional failure sends him to Slough House, where MI5 places agents whose careers have gone off course. River is talented, but the series allows his mistakes to remain visible. He spends much of the story trying to recover the professional standing he lost at the beginning.
That distance from Bond is useful. Lowden has already spent several seasons inside an espionage story without giving audiences an approximation of 007. Slow Horses removes much of the polish normally associated with screen spies, leaving plenty of room for Lowden to approach Bond differently if he eventually gets the role.
His profile is also arriving at an interesting point. Slow Horses Season 6 premieres September 16, with Lowden returning alongside Oldman. The fifth season received nine Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Lowden.
Bond Does Not Necessarily Need the Biggest Name
Former Bond casting director Debbie McWilliams has previously argued that some mystery around the actor helps the character. McWilliams worked on the franchise for four decades, contributing to the casting of Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.
Discussing the current search, she said she would prefer someone who arrives more unexpectedly rather than an actor whose private life is already familiar to audiences. Craig himself had an established career when Casino Royale arrived in 2006, although Bond dramatically changed the scale of his public profile.
Lowden occupies a useful position in that respect. He is recognizable without having a persona that overwhelms his roles.
His career also extends well beyond Slow Horses. Lowden won an Olivier Award for Ghosts in 2014 and later received a BAFTA Scotland acting award for Calibre. His screen work has included Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Mary Queen of Scots, where he played Lord Darnley opposite Saoirse Ronan.
Those roles have made him familiar without fixing him permanently to a blockbuster character. Bond would therefore arrive with relatively little competition from an existing franchise identity.
The Timing Has Put Jack Lowden in a Useful Position
The Bond casting process appears to be further along than it was earlier this year. Amazon MGM confirmed in May that the search was underway while making clear that it would not discuss individual candidates. Variety later reported that auditions had begun under casting director Nina Gold, whose previous credits include Game of Thrones, The Crown and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Gold’s appointment also marks a change behind the scenes. Debbie McWilliams, who worked on the franchise for four decades, retired before Amazon MGM took creative control. Gold is therefore overseeing the first Bond casting process of the Amazon era alongside Villeneuve. The eventual announcement will also be the first major casting decision made under the franchise’s new creative structure.
Despite Oldman’s confidence, Amazon MGM has not announced Lowden, or anyone else for that matter, as the next James Bond. The studio has continued to keep individual candidates private.
Lowden’s candidacy now has more context than it did earlier in the year. He is working in one of television’s most established espionage dramas, has a current Emmy nomination and is being publicly backed by the actor who has worked opposite him throughout Slow Horses. None of that proves he has the part, but it helps explain why his name is receiving renewed attention.
Amazon’s First Bond Choice Will Matter
Whoever receives the role will also become the first James Bond chosen after Amazon MGM gained creative control of the franchise.
The studio completed its joint venture with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson in March 2025. Broccoli and Wilson remain co-owners of the intellectual property, while Amazon MGM now controls future creative decisions.
Denis Villeneuve arrives at Bond after Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and the Dune films. Steven Knight, best known as the creator of Peaky Blinders, is handling the screenplay.
Casting will give the project its clearest point of comparison with the Daniel Craig era. Whoever is chosen will inherit a role Craig played across five films over fifteen years, making the announcement more immediately visible than any of the production decisions revealed so far.
Lowden remains one reported contender among several names associated with the search. Variety has also linked Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Harris Dickinson to the process. Amazon MGM has not confirmed any of them as finalists.
Oldman’s comments add weight to the speculation without resolving it. Until Amazon MGM makes an announcement, Lowden remains one candidate in a casting process that has been deliberately kept private.
River Cartwright has already shown Lowden working comfortably inside the spy genre without resembling Bond. If the role eventually becomes his, that distance may be exactly what makes the casting interesting.