Les Mis star David Oyewolo wants to be first black James Bond saying it would give generation of youngsters ‘a superhero to identify with’
- David Oyewolo said he wants to give black children a superhero to ‘identify with’
- Oyewolo has shared a dressing room with the current James Bond, Daniel Craig
- Idris Elba and Richard Madden have been touted as next potential 007 actors
Les Miserables actor David Oyewolo said he wants to be the first black James Bond to give a generation of black youngsters ‘a superhero to identify with’.
The British actor made theatre history by becoming the first black actor to play an English king in Henry VI by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Oyewolo said: ‘The significance of someone like me playing a role like James Bond is not lost on me. It is going to be something that will expand horizons.
Les Miserables actor David Oyewolo said he wants to be the first black James Bond to give a generation of black youngsters ‘a superhero to identify with’
‘One of the most beautiful things I have seen in America on Halloween is white kids running around in Black Panther costumes.
‘I did not have a superhero to identify with growing up on a council estate in Islington. It was all Superman. That these things are very important is not lost on me.’
Oyewolo, 42, has shared a dressing room with the current James Bond, Daniel Craig, and they were in Othello together in an off-Broadway production.
He said he would talk to the James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli.
Idris Elba (pictured in New York) has been tipped to be the next James Bond
Oyewolo said: ‘When I was at drama school [Lamda, where he was the only black student in his year], the idea of a black James Bond was so far removed from everyone’s thinking.
‘We are talking about real progress. Society is beginning to tell the industries what they want to see.’
Idris Elba and Richard Madden have been tipped as potential successors to become the next 007, The Sunday Times reports.
Oyewolo said he has received a lot of messages since taking part in the BBC adaptation of Les Miserables, which he said has changed people’s perception about people of colour in European history.
Oyewolo has shared a dressing room with the current James Bond, Daniel Craig
Richard Madden is among the favourites to become the next James Bond