Jamie Campbell Bower wants to play a James Bond villain
I’d love to play Bond, but there’s always a moment where I think, as a young actor, you go, ‘It’s not going to be me.’ A Bond villain would be amazing. That would be fab,
Jamie Campbell Bower told an interviewer while promoting his latest television project. As chatter around the next casting iteration of James Bond gains steam in the industry, the 37-year-old actor has made it clear he is gunning for a role as an antagonist in the multi-billion-dollar spy thriller franchise, IMDb reported.
Chasing the 007 Antagonist Legacy
This is not the first time the actor has voiced his ambitions to join the legendary MI6 universe. Back in 2022, during an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, he admitted that his primary goal was not to step into the iconic tux of the British secret agent, but rather to face off against him. At the time, he joked that Rami Malek had beaten him to the punch by playing the bioterrorist Lyutsifer Safin opposite Daniel Craig in No Time to Die. If cast, Bower hopes to join the prestigious ranks of past franchise villains played by Mads Mikkelsen, Javier Bardem, and Christoph Waltz.
Bower is certainly no stranger to portraying dark and formidable figures on screen. His most prominent villainous turn arrived on Netflix’s sci-fi flagship Stranger Things, where he played Henry Creel, a character who evolves into the terrifying telekinetic entity Vecna across the fourth and fifth seasons. Beyond the Upside Down, his work in the Wizarding World includes the younger version of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. His resume also includes playing the ancient, sadistic vampire Caius in the Twilight saga.
After playing Vecna in Stranger Things, The Rings of Power star Jamie Campbell Bower wants to go back to the dark side and become a 007 antagonist #TheRingsofPower pic.twitter.com/df4GwCE2bn
Middle-earth Debuts and Upcoming Schedule
While the James Bond villain role remains an aspiration, Bower’s immediate schedule centers on fantasy television. He joins the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for its third season, which premieres November 11 on Prime Video, according to io9. In the sprawling Tolkien adaptation, he plays Celeborn, the husband of Galadriel, who was absent for hundreds of years after going missing during the war. io9 noted that Bower expressed humility about joining an established production that started filming years before his arrival.
Disclaimer: The views and cultural analyses presented in this article are for informational and entertainment purposes only. Information regarding legal disputes or financial data is based on available public records.
