BBC star Nicholas Pinnock calls for James Bond to stay white as he slams ‘box-ticking’ rumours: ‘Don’t want change!’

But the race has been far from plain sailing. After Amazon acquired full creative control last year from longtime producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, rumours of a “fresh” reimagining of the character have been an ever-present feature.

Debate has centred on whether Bond should change race or sex, with the likes of Idris Elba, Regé-Jean Page, and Lashana Lynch among the names banded around by the fandom.

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Mr Pinnock also found himself in the conversation thanks to a viral blog post from a Bond fan in 2017, but has now comprehensively ruled himself out.

His CV boasts roles in the likes of the BBC’s Two Weeks in August, This Town, and Doctors, as well as spy thriller Counterpart, Criminal UK, and Django.

Now, the actor has urged bosses to stick to the same formula that has made 007 the iconic spy he has been for generations.

Mr Pinnock made the plea when discussing his upcoming stint in the crime drama, Fightland. He stars alongside the likes of Howard Charles, Deborah Ayorinde, and Charles Babalola in a predominantly Black cast.

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“I don’t get bogged down with things like that. Genuinely,” Mr Pinnock told Radio Times when quizzed on the fact. “I’m a bit of an outlier. I don’t let my colour and my culture get in the way of how much I want to do a project.”

In fact, despite conceding it was important to have “colourblind” casting, Mr Pinnock added: “I don’t like the term.

“The moment you start being blind to colour, you don’t understand its impact on the world. If you don’t see colour, you don’t understand how the world treats me differently to how it treats you.”

Turning his attention to other modern-day reimaginings, Mr Pinnock claimed “there would be absolute outrage” if an “iconic” figure like Mr T from the A Team was reinvented as a white man.

He held the same approach to 007. “I grew up with James Bond looking and acting a certain way. I don’t want it to change,” he said.

“You go to watch a James Bond movie, you know that James Bond’s going to be this English, Scottish or Irish guy with a slick accent, with kick-arse moves, who gets all the ladies. Great!

“I want him to stay like that. I don’t think changing him and ticking a box is the answer.”

Rather than reimaginings, Mr Pinnock instead has urged “the industry to put the same amount of money, care and attention into another character that doesn’t look like James Bond.

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“If they put posters up tomorrow saying ‘008’ in the same font, everybody would be at the cinema, they wouldn’t question it and they would love it. And it could be me. It could be Idris Elba, it could be Dev Patel. It could be anybody of non-European descent and it would be amazing.”

Fellow rumoured name Mr Elba echoed the sentiment when speaking to GQ earlier this year.

“In realistic terms, some markets just don’t go for that,” Sir Idris said. “Bond is big all over the world. And [audiences] won’t [all] go for a black male, an African male, playing Bond.

“That’s not what they like in their culture. Period.”

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The Luther star added: “Bond is so unrealistic, so a hint of reality is good, but let’s not try and make it woke.

“I think you’ve got to be pure to what it is: escapism. Don’t try to answer the world’s taste. Just be Bond.”