Why Regé-Jean Page should be the next James Bond

Bridgerton might have been his major breakthrough, but Regé-Jean Page's CV is slightly longer than Netflix's hit period drama. As Page becomes some bookies' frontrunner to be named the next actor to play James Bond, we took a look back over some of his past roles and how they might hold up as auditions to play 007

Why Regé-Jean Page should be the next James Bond Bridgerton might have been his major breakthrough, but Regé-Jean Page's CV is slightly longer than Netflix's hit period drama. As Page becomes some bookies' frontrunner to be named the next actor to play James Bond, we took a look back over some of his past roles and how they might hold up as auditions to play 007 Thomas Barrie Every few months, a relatively unknown actor – usually bestubbled, square-jawed and six-foot-plus – will come surging out of the aether, backed by thousands of vocal fans, to claim the title of favourite to play James Bond when Daniel Craig retires. Not long back, it was Outlander's Sam Heughan whose odds were slashed (and Heughan certainly remains in the running), but recently a new contender has appeared: Bridgerton's Regé-Jean Page.    Controversially, it was announced earlier this month that Page would not be returning to Netflix's whimsical period piece, in whose first series he played Simon Basset, the Duke Of Hastings. Although the Duke's storyline is largely wrapped up in the first book in the Bridgerton series of novels, which forms the basis of the adaptation's first series, and so his departure from the cast wouldn't have come as a huge surprise to dedicated fans, it has nonetheless fuelled industry rumours about what Page has lined up next. And, naturally, it coincides with the question hanging over who will replace Daniel Craig as Bond when he finally finishes his Sisyphean stint as 007 in No Time To Die. Page's odds with Betway make him the favourite at the time of writing, at a minuscule 2/1.   So, as the publication of record for all things Bond, GQ decided to do a little digging into Page's CV, to weigh up his experiences and talents and make the case for whether he should really be the man to take on the world's most famous franchise.    Aside from a few stage roles and minor TV bits, Page's first major role was in the tenth and final series of the BBC's secondary school soap Waterloo Road in 2015. There was really almost nothing that could be further from Bond in his role: Page played Guy Braxton, a disastrously unprepared, newly qualified teacher who joined the school for the second half of the series. Turning up on his first day fresh from a gap-year trip to Bali, the 23-year-old hoodie-clad Braxton is cocky until his first lesson falls apart and he's quickly brought down a peg. Some of Braxton's quips are… almost Bond-esque? But, ultimately, the man is a mess, lives out of his car and the only ones wearing ties here are 15-year-olds who make sure they're wider than they are long. Waterloo Road is pretty unglamorous, the soap to Bond's opera. Next.   A year later, Page appeared in the four-part History Channel remake of American TV classic Roots, playing Chicken George, which from the off ought to be enough detail to work out whether this has any bearing on his suitability for Bond. Unless 007 swaps his Walther PPK for a flintlock, Roots is unlikely to incline Barbara Broccoli towards the idea of Page as Bond. Perhaps the only relevant fact here is that it definitely represented a step up for Page, both in terms of production value and the performance required of him. Page more than held his own in a series peppered with big names, including Laurence Fishburne, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Forest Whitaker, Anna Paquin and, erm, TI. All round, Roots was well received and since Bridgerton aired it has picked up an entirely new audience.    And so we come to Bridgerton, the pantaloon-wearing, champagne-drinking elephant in the room that your sister was briefly obsessed with last Christmas. When Shonda Rhimes' series dropped on Netflix in December, it caused less a stir and more of a televisual earthquake, whose epicentre was the thirst trap Duke Of Hastings, played by Page. Dashing and aristocratic, the Duke was the major love interest for leading ingenue and – let's face it – audience surrogate Daphne Bridgerton. And even if series creator Julia Quinn doesn't seem to realise that modern-day Hastings is the least glamorous place in the UK (a modern-day Page would be Duke of goths, junkies and chip shops), Page pulled this one off with aplomb, obviously – it's the single reason he is now touted as a Bond frontrunner. Like Sam Heughan's lead role as laird Jamie Fraser in Outlander, Page's eight-episode spell in Bridgerton has catapulted him into contention on the basis that he looks good in Georgian formal dress and has very broad shoulders. And, in all fairness, why not? Looking suave is half the job.   Looking ahead, the Page pitch is arguably less compelling. He's currently signed up to star in the big upcoming Dungeons & Dragons film adaptation pencilled in for a 2022 or 2023 release, supposedly alongside Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez. That hardly screams "already attached to another major franchise", though, of course, Daniel Craig managed to shoot a fair few non-Bond films throughout his time in the role. But wouldn't the sight of James Bond trying to pass a charisma check to persuade a local halfling innkeeper to point him in the direction of the nearest dragon be a bit off-putting? Would prosthetic elf ears suddenly make Page completely unattractive to male and female Bond fans alike? Who can say…   And what about age and background? Regé-Jean Page is 31 and so would likely be around 33 or 34 when his first Bond film would come out, if he's cast. That's slightly young, but not obstructively so. As GQ has noted in the past, Daniel Craig was 37 when he was first cast, while Pierce Brosnan was 41. Bond's not meant to be a greenhorn spy – and Timothy Dalton, cast aged 40, supposedly turned the role down in his mid-twenties, claiming he was too young – so Page would come into the franchise at the bottom end of the age range of potential actors. In a way, this makes him the perfect fit: theoretically, he could have a plausible 20-year period as Bond while bringing the role a gravitas and cynicism that someone much younger (Tom Holland, say) might initially lack. Bond is not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.   The other notable point about his would-be casting, of course, is that Page would be the first black Bond. And that would be great, if only to end the interminable conversation around it and give Idris Elba some peace and space to talk about literally anything else in interviews. Page would be a breath of fresh air for the franchise and James Bond does best when it reinvents himself – Craig's unexpected casting in 2005 and Casino Royale proved that. As always, Barbara Broccoli is keeping her hand close to her chest, but if it is Page who's eventually revealed in the tux, Bond could do much, much worse.   Now read   Daniel Craig: 'This is my last Bond movie. I've kept my mouth shut before and regretted it'   All the filming locations in No Time To Die – and how you can visit them   Our first look at James Bond's No Time To Die (and more details you need to know) Unsubscribe |View Online Queries about this email? Contact datacontroller@condenast.co.uk Condé Nast Publications 1 Hanover Square, London W1S 1JU © The Condé Nast Publications Ltd Our Privacy Policy