The handsome star now tipped to be new James Bond after huge Netflix success-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro

Netflix breakout star Leo Woodall has now been placed in the running as a 007 contender (Picture: Araya Doheny/Rex/Shutterstock)

The James Bond race has just widened a touch with the news that Netflix heart-throb Leo Woodall is now seen as a favourite contender for the role.

Handsome Woodall, 27, broke fans’ hearts as the troubled yet charismatic Dexter in the streaming platform’s adaptation of David Nicholls’ One Day earlier this year.

Now it appears that off the back of that success, as well as his headline-grabbing appearance in season two of smash hit US show The White Lotus, the British rising star is turning industry heads.

James Bond’s tuxedo and licence to kill have been waiting to be inherited since Daniel Craig’s final turn as 007 in 2021’s Die Another Day.

Since then – and even before – there have been numerous British actors said to be in the running, from fan-favourite Venom actor Tom Hardy to The Witcher star Henry Cavill, Oppenheimer Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy and Poldark’s Aidan Turner.

In recent months, Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been the hot favourite, sending the rumour mill into overdrive over his possible involvement with the franchise, ever since it was reported in December 2022 that he had apparently shot the classic 007 gun barrel sequence that appears in the official opening for every Bond movie.

Woodall has favourable odds for the role, which beat out other past options (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Rex/Shutterstock for Netflix)

The actor broke hearts as Dexter in One Day for Netflix earlier this year (Picture: Netflix/Everett/Rex/Shutterstock)

Could he be the one to don the tuxedo Daniel Craig left empty as the next James Bond? (Picture: Col Pics/Everett/Rex/Shutterstock)

However, recent odds have put Woodall firmly in the running – even above a past favourite.

According to betideas.com, the star – who is currently shooting Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy alongside Renée Zellweger – is a new entry in the market at 7/1 to replace Daniel Craig, putting him sixth in the list and alongside some of the long-standing favourites.

This means he has sneaked in ahead of Bridgerton actor Regé-Jean Page, who has been put at 8/1.

Taylor-Johnson remains first in the betting at 4/6, with Henry Cavill (7/2) and James Norton (5/1) the other serious contenders.

Theo James is also at 6/1 after his successful stint leading Guy Ritchie’s The Gentleman series for Netflix, and rising star Damson Idris, 32, is at 11/2.

He previously broke through in US crime drama Snowfall and will next be seen in the untitled F1 drama alongside Brad Pitt, Sir Lewis Hamilton and Javier Bardem.

‘The search for our next James Bond was seemingly a foregone conclusion following reports Aaron Taylor-Johnson had been offered the role a few months back, but a period of elongated silence has had punters speculating if there’s another twist in the tale,’ commented betideas.com’s spokesperson Lee Astley.

The frontrunner for months for Bond has been Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Picture: Getty)

However, Woodall now has better odds than his fellow Netflix star, Bridgerton actor Regé-Jean Page (Picture: Getty)

‘That twist may come in the form of Leo Woodall, with the actor gaining popularity in the betting following his stint in The White Lotus and One Day.

‘Woodall is a new addition to the market at 7/1 – instantly placing him among the favourites for the role.’

The actor’s profile will certainly go stratospheric in 2025 regardless, when he appears in the fourth Bridget Jones film, where he is rumoured to be playing the widow’s toyboy love interest, Roxster.

Frontrunner Johnson indicated he had likely had enough of the intense casting speculation in April, when he was asked directly about it at the premiere of his new film The Fall Guy, with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.

The 27-year-old Brit certainly fits the profile of a younger version of the agent that producers are looking for (Picture: Teddy Cavendish/Netflix)

When asked if he gets ‘sick of being asked about Bond’, the star paused, sighed and chuckled before bluntly replying, ‘Are you sick of asking the question?’.

‘I want to know, so no,’ the reporter responded, which led to the actor telling her to ‘have a good one’, as he shut down any further conversation and moved along the press line.

Since then, reports have quietened significantly – and it was even denied back in March anyway that Taylor-Johnson had been given the role.

Both ex-Bond Pierce Brosnan and the actor’s Back to Black filmmaker wife Sam Taylor-Johnson have given their seal of approval to the potential casting, if he does end up as the MI6 agent though.

It remains to be seen if Woodall will inspire such support as well.

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