James Bond’s Naomie Harris backs Cillian Murphy to take over from Daniel Craig as 007

The actress has her eye on the Peaky Blinders star 
Favourite: Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny
Columbia Pictures
Emma Powell19 April 2018
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

James Bond star Naomie Harris has thrown her support behind Cillian Murphy to step into Daniel Craig’s shoes and become the next 007 agent.

The Miss Moneypenny actress has given the Peaky Blinders star her blessing to take over the role, when Craig steps down from the franchise after the next film.

While a number of A-list names have been thrown into the mix, including James Norton and Idris Elba, it seems that Harris already has a firm favourite.

Speaking to the Daily Mail she said: “He's a great actor. I can totally see him in that role.”

The name's Murphy: Cillian Murphy's name has been bandied about 
BBC/Caryn Mandabach/Robert Viglasky

Murphy recently had his odds slashed from 33/1 to 12/1 to take over after it was confirmed Danny Boyle will direct Craig’s final outing as Bond. The pair previously collaborated on 28 Days Later and Sunshine.

But the world could be about to get its first female Bond after Murphy and current favourite Norton were overtaken by “any” actress earlier this month following a surge of bets that saw bookmakers slash the odds of the next person to play the 007 agent being female from 33/1 to 12/1.

Daniel Craig - In pictures

1/47

Mary Poppins star Emily Blunt had her odds cut from 250/1 to 50/1 to play the iconic British spy with Gillian Anderson’s name also being bandied about.

Craig confirmed his return to the role after months of speculation. The actor has enjoyed four outings as the British spy in Skyfall, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Spectre.

Announcing the news on US chat show The Late Show, he told host Stephen Colbert: “I just want to go out on a high note, and I can't wait.”

The as-of-yet untitled 25th film is set for release in November 2019.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in