Yaphet Kotto, the first black actor to ever portray a James Bond villain, has said that Idris Elba should not take over the role of 007 from Daniel Craig – stating that he believes no black actor should ever play Bond.
Idris Elba has been pegged as the replacement to Craig when the current Bond hangs up his Beretta 418 but Kotto, who starred alongside Roger Moore as the villainous Dr Kananga in 1973’s Live and Let Die, has said that he believes no person of color should ever assume the role of the British Secret Service agent.
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Speaking to the Big Issue, Kotto said: “[Bond] cannot be black. James Bond was established by Ian Fleming as a white character, played by white actors. Play 003 or 006 but you cannot be 007.”
The 75-year-old continued: “If I say I want to play JFK, I should be laughed out of the room.” When it was pointed out by the interviewer that James Bond is fictional character, Kotto replied: “Black men should stop trying to play roles created by whites. These roles are not written for black men. We have pens [to create] roles that no one else has established.”
Kotto, as Dr Kananga, sizes up Roger Moore’s James Bond.
Kotto was a pioneering figure for black actors back in his acting days, making unconventional choices in the roles he played that ranged from engineer Parker in Alien, to a lengthy run as Lieutenant Al Giardello in TV series Homocide: Life on the Street. It is therefore disheartening to hear him discredit the idea of Idris Elba assuming the role of 007, considering that Elba is certainly one of the most likely candidates for the role given his performances in the likes of British crime drama Luther and HBO’s revered series The Wire.
It remains to be seen whether Elba will get to take on James Bond following the release of the next entry in the franchise, Spectre, but there aren’t many more British actors who could do a finer job than him.
