Idris Elba once again shut down the rumor that he’s going to play James Bond after Daniel Craig exits the series.
The actor was asked by a “Good Morning Britain” reporter on Wednesday if he would be the next 007, and he simply replied, “No,” with a laugh.
He mentioned that he also likes his martinis “stir-fried” as opposed to Bond’s preference for shaken, not stirred.
Rumors circulated earlier this month that Elba was being thought of for the role. The U.K. publication the Daily Star reported that director Antoine Fuqua spoke with Bond series producer Barbara Broccoli, who said she thought it was time for a black actor to star in the franchise.
A representative for Fuqua later denied the conversation ever happened.
“He never had a conversation with Barbara about the franchise or about any casting,” the rep told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s all made up stuff. Not sure how it got started.”
Elba later shut down the rumor by tweeting out, “Don’t believe the HYPE.”
Of course, the 45-year-old first confused things by sending out a tweet earlier in the day that read, “my name’s Elba, Idris Elba.”
The Idris Elba as Bond rumor first start in 2014, when emails from the massive Sony hack revealed that then-studio co-chair Amy Pascal told a colleague, “Idris should be the next Bond.”
The next year, former Bond actor Pierce Brosnan told the RadioTimes that he would pick the “Luther” actor as the next star of the franchise.
But Elba says that he would like to see a woman as Bond after Craig wraps up his time with the franchise.
“I would be interested in having a Bond character other than being a male,” the actor said in a Variety video earlier this year. “It could be a woman, it could be a black woman, it could be a white woman. But I think that character, everyone would like to see [filmmakers] do something different with it, you know. Why not?”
While all hope for Elba as the next Bond is currently lost ― we can only be told “no” so many times without believing it ― the actor does have some exciting projects coming up.
Elba is slated to direct, produce and star in a modern version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame for Netflix. He’ll also star in a new Netflix comedy series “Turn Up Charlie,” where he’ll play a struggling DJ. Considering he’s already a DJ in real life, there are some high expectations for the soundtrack.
Check out one of his sets below:
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