{"id":248495,"date":"2026-01-23T21:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/248495\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T21:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:40:10","slug":"riz-ahmed-wants-to-be-james-bond-confronts-jacob-elordi-007-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/248495\/","title":{"rendered":"Riz Ahmed Wants to Be James Bond, Confronts Jacob Elordi 007 Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tRiz Ahmed<\/a> goes full James Bond<\/a>, sort of, in Prime Video\u2019s upcoming comedy series \u201cBait<\/a>,\u201d which world premiered on the opening night of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival ahead of its streaming premiere in March. The Oscar nominee writes and stars in the series as a struggling London actor who is thrust into an existential spiral after his audition to become the next James Bond goes viral. Ahmed billed the series as more about life\u2019s audition process than Bond himself.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI had been keeping notes of all the contradictions that make up my life,\u201d Ahmed said during a Sundance interview with co-star Guz Kahn at the Variety\u00a0Studio presented by Audible. \u201cThe difference between public and private self. What inspired it is sometimes life feels like one big audition. We\u2019re all trying to prove ourselves online, chasing the validation of strangers and looking for approval. I wanted to make a show that explores that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Bond is still top of mind for Ahmed. The 007 franchise is currently undergoing a reboot that\u2019s backed by Amazon, the same studio behind \u201cBait.\u201d The actor quipped: \u201cEveryone has an audition for Bond. Daniel Craig\u2019s was \u2018Layer Cake\u2019\u2026 This is my audition for Bond. I dare anyone to watch this show and think we shouldn\u2019t play Bond.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmazon\u2019s first James Bond movie is being directed by \u201cBlade Runner 2049\u201d and \u201cDune\u201d helmer Denis Villeneuve. It will be the first 007 tentpole following the end of the Daniel Craig era. The new Bond actor has not been announced, although the latest viral internet rumor has pegged \u201cEuphoria\u201d star and \u201cFrankenstein\u201d Oscar nominee Jacob Elordi for the role. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t mind who plays James Bond as long as it is me,\u201d Ahmed said about 007 casting rumors before playfully storming off the set when co-star Guz Kahn informed him: \u201cI think Jacob Elordi will be James Bond over Riz Ahmed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTo be honest, this show is not about Bond,\u201d Ahmed added on a more serious note. \u201cJames Bond in our show is a symbol of what my character wants to be, the ultra alpha-male. He just wants to be someone else, which so many of us want to be. That\u2019s the relatable part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBait\u201d streams March 25 on Prime Video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Riz Ahmed goes full James Bond, sort of, in Prime Video\u2019s upcoming comedy series \u201cBait,\u201d which world premiered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[108705,156,24973,409,111,139,69,112187,144732],"class_list":{"0":"post-248495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-bait","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-james-bond","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-riz-ahmed","16":"tag-sundance-studio-2026"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}