Pierce Brosnan says ‘Oppenheimer’ lead Cillian Murphy would make a “magnificent” James Bond

With names ranging from Henry Cavill to Aaron Taylor-Johnson to Regé-Jean Page being bandied about as the next possible James Bond, one former 007 has made his choice.

At the Oscar Wilde Awards in Los Angeles Thursday night, Pierce Brosnan told the BBC that Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy should take the tux from Daniel Craig, who hung it up in 2021 with No Time to Die.

“Cillian would do a magnificent job as James Bond on His Majesty’s Secret Service,” declared Brosnan, who played Ian Fleming‘s suave secret agent in four films from 1995 to 2002: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

The event celebrated Irish talent. Murphy, who like Brosnan, is of Irish decent and could become the first Ireland-born Best Actor Academy Award winner on Sunday night.

On that possibility, Murphy told the outlet, “I just want to go in and have a good time.”