Greta Gerwig pitches Barbie actor for next James Bond
Warner Bros./MGMThe Kens have ironically been a shining aspect of the Barbie movie, and now one actor is being put forward for James Bond – and it’s not Ryan Gosling.
Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, follows the titular doll as she traverses on a life-altering journey to the real world, exploring the Mattel company, the land of Los Angeles, and the entire concept of girlhood along the way. Oh, and Ken is also there.
As we state in our five-star review of the movie, “it’s impossible to mention comedy without mentioning Ryan Gosling’s performance as Ken. A male character being the standout of Barbie could be seen as a problem, but it’s hard to deny Gosling’s delightful charisma. Satirizing the frivolities of masculinity while also giving genuine heart and catharsis… the Kens as a whole prove that Barbie is for every gender.”
The movie took the world by storm last summer with its iconic depiction of the Ken dolls, particularly in the form of Ryan Gosling’s Ken. However, one other Ken has stood out in a specific way for director Greta Gerwig.
Greta Gerwig thinks this Ken could play James Bond
The Barbie movie featured a ton of great Kens, and great actors that played them. This included Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Ncuti Gatwa, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Scott Evans. But for Gerwig, Ben-Adir shines, and could be a potential for the next James Bond actor. The British spy franchise is currently on the hunt for a new face, after the departure of Daniel Craig in 2021’s No Time To Die.
The race seems to be led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but the fight isn’t over just yet. And Gerwig has actually stated to Variety about how impressed she was by Ben-Adir’s responses to her direction on set, especially during the movie’s action climax, explaining: “Everybody’s jaws dropped. I was like, get this footage to whoever is making James Bond immediately.”
Kingsley Ben-Adir has of course made a name for himself as a rising star in Hollywood. He was a nominee for the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2020, the 2020 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, and winner of the 2020 Gotham Awards’ Breakthrough Actor award.
He has also shone in roles in media such as Peaky Blinders and One Night in Miami. But his most recent role as the villain – Gravik – of Marvel’s newest Disney+ series, Secret Invasion, has proven he can work in a spy setting.
Whether he gets Bond or not, it seems that Ben-Adir is only set to grow within the industry, especially if Gerwig has anything to say about it.