--- title: James Bond: Hugh Jackman Says He'd Consider Playing 007 description: The X Men actor weighs in on potentially playing the part of 007 canonical: https://time.com/4021191/james-bond-hugh-jackman-idris-elba/ author: ashley Ross article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-03T11:54:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:48.086Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Hugh Jackman Says He'd "Seriously Consider" Playing James Bond og:description: The Australian actor shakes up the latest 007 controversy by throwing his hat in the ring for the part og:url: https://time.com/4021191/james-bond-hugh-jackman-idris-elba/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt999ddb16debed5fd/6988621e35ba6f0368c0effc/hugh-jackman1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Comic-Con International 2015 - Warner Bros. Presentation og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hugh Jackman Says He'd "Seriously Consider" Playing James Bond twitter:description: The Australian actor shakes up the latest 007 controversy by throwing his hat in the ring for the part twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt999ddb16debed5fd/6988621e35ba6f0368c0effc/hugh-jackman1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hugh Jackman Says He'd 'Seriously Consider' Playing James Bond ## Video: Bond Author Apologizes For Saying Idris Elba Is 'Too Street' [Watch (HLS stream): Bond Author Apologizes For Saying Idris Elba Is 'Too Street'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PWLwcpdT.m3u8) (1:40)  _Published 2015-09-02. Anthony Horowitz, current "James Bond" author, said Idris Elba is "too street" to play 007 ... and then quickly apologized._ by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Sep 3, 2015 11:54 AM CUT  Hugh Jackman attends the Warner Bros. 'Pan' presentation during Comic-Con International 2015 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego on July 11, 2015. Hugh Jackman attends the Warner Bros. 'Pan' presentation during Comic-Con International 2015 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego on July 11, 2015.Albert L. Ortega—Getty Images by [ashley Ross](/author/ashley-ross/) ## ashley Ross Sep 3, 2015 11:54 AM CUT Hugh Jackman could be James Bond. In fact, he was once approached about the role years ago, he told Australian TV show _The Project_. “At the time I was just about to do X-Men 2 and I was like, ‘Ah, I don’t think it’s the right time,'” he said. And if he was asked to play the role again? “I’d seriously consider it.” The news comes amid a controversy surrounding the possibility of _The Wire_‘s Idris Elba playing the next Bond. Anthony Horowitz, the author commissioned by Ian Fleming’s estate to write the next James Bond novel, said he didn’t think Elba was right for the part, saying he was “too street” for Bond. When fans became outraged, Horowitz [apologized](http://time.com/4018556/anthony-horowitz-idris-elba-james-bond/ "undefined"), taking to Twitter to say he was “mortified to have caused offence.” So the Jackman rumors do arrive at an odd time, and it’s unclear if he’d even have the time if asked again. The Australian actor, who has played X-Men’s Wolverine six times, has an untitled Wolverine sequel set to premiere in 2017, as he teased in an [Instagram](https://instagram.com/p/0x7TKcihJw/ "undefined") post earlier in 2015. ### Meet Every James Bond Ever  Dr. No (1962) - Sean Connery United Artists  From Russia with Love (1963) - Sean Connery United Artists  Goldfinger (1964) - Sean Connery United Artists  Thunderball (1965) - Sean Connery United Artists  You Only Live Twice (1967) - Sean Connery United Artists  On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - George Lazenby United Artists  Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Sean Connery United Artists  Live and Let Die (1973) - Roger Moore United Artists  The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) - Roger Moore United Artists  The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Roger Moore United Artists  Moonraker (1979) - Roger Moore United Artists  For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Roger Moore United Artists  Octopussy (1983) - Roger Moore United Artists  A View to a Kill (1985) - Roger Moore United Artists  The Living Daylights (1987) - Timothy Dalton United Artists  Licence to Kill (1989) - Timothy Dalton United Artists  GoldenEye (1995) - Pierce Brosnan MGM  Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - Pierce Brosnan MGM  The World Is Not Enough (1999) - Pierce Brosnan MGM  Die Another Day (2002) - Pierce Brosnan MGM  Casino Royale (2006) - Daniel Craig MGM/Columbia  Quantum of Solace (2008) - Daniel Craig MGM/Columbia  Skyfall (2012) - Daniel Craig MGM/Columbia ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4021191/james-bond-hugh-jackman-idris-elba/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4021191/james-bond-hugh-jackman-idris-elba/"},"headline":"Hugh Jackman Says He'd 'Seriously Consider' Playing James Bond","datePublished":"2015-09-03T11:54:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:48.086Z","description":"The Australian actor shakes up the latest 007 controversy by throwing his hat in the ring for the part","url":"https://time.com/4021191/james-bond-hugh-jackman-idris-elba/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt999ddb16debed5fd/6988621e35ba6f0368c0effc/hugh-jackman1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"ashley Ross","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-ross/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt999ddb16debed5fd/6988621e35ba6f0368c0effc/hugh-jackman1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Comic-Con International 2015 - Warner Bros. Presentation","caption":"SAN DIEGO, CA - JULY 11: Actor Hugh Jackman attends the Warner Bros. 'Pan' presentation during Comic-Con International 2015 at the San Diego Convention Center on July 11, 2015 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)","creditText":"Albert L. Ortega—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4021191/james-bond-hugh-jackman-idris-elba/","name":"Hugh Jackman Says He'd 'Seriously Consider' Playing James Bond"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Bond Author Apologizes For Saying Idris Elba Is 'Too Street'","description":"Anthony Horowitz, current \"James Bond\" author, said Idris Elba is \"too street\" to play 007 ... and then quickly apologized.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PWLwcpdT/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-02T14:22:35.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PWLwcpdT.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4021191/james-bond-hugh-jackman-idris-elba/","duration":"PT1M40S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4021191/james-bond-hugh-jackman-idris-elba/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```