- The name’s Rose-Marsh, Scott Rose-Marsh – and he’s reportedly in the running to step up as the next James Bond.
- The relatively low-profile British thespian, who was still working at a call centre up until 2020, is said to have screen-tested by reading lines from GoldenEye.
- But this revelation is just the tip of the surprising iceberg…
Move over, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Go ahead and scoot on down the bench, Tom Holland. Because there’s a new potential candidate to become the next James Bond.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, one “well-placed source” close to the Amazon-MGM Studios production has indicated British thespian Scott Rose-Marsh actually screen-tested for the role of 007.
“Scott Rose-Marsh was brought in sometime in late June to read sides from 1995’s GoldenEye, presumably for just-hired director Denis Villeneuve,” reveals Benjamin Svetkey & Julian Sancton of the prolific entertainment publication.
“He might also have tackled pages from the script Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is said to be whipping up for Bond 26. Whatever the material, Rambling’s source claims Rose-Marsh was given just one piece of direction before the test cameras rolled: Don’t impersonate a previous Bond.”
“Rose-Marsh’s publicist did not respond to THR‘s request for comment – which, frankly, is the smart move whether or not his client has been mixing martinis – and neither did Amazon.”
RELATED: The Reason Christopher Nolan Was “Rejected” By The Bond Franchise
Now this is rather surprising for several reasons. Chief among them being (to quote a certain notorious mixed martial artist): who da f**k is this guy?
Remarkably enough, Rose-Marsh only recently began his career as a professional actor. Up until 2020, the Southampton native was still working his call centre job.
That same year, he’d be introduced to the entertainment-consuming world via Arthur & Merlin: Knights of Camelot, and has since made something of a name for himself by appearing in S4C’s Yr Amgueddfa, BBC One’s Chloe, the Stephen Merchant comedy series The Outlaws, as well as portraying real-life crim George Cornell in Krays: Code of Silence.
But all in all, he’s largely flown under the radar.
The other detail of note is his age: in defiance of all the earlier reports that Amazon-MGM were aiming to go younger for more franchise longevity out of the forthcoming iteration (as in the right side of mid-30s, not some foetus in his 20s), Scott Rose-Marsh is 37 and verging on 38.
Not exactly a dealbreaker, of course. Daniel Craig himself was 38 in Casino Royale (51 by the time No Time To Die rolled around), Pierce Brosnan earned his own licence to kill at 42 before similarly holstering the Walther PPK at 51; and lest we forget Roger Moore’s famously senior innings from the age of 45 to 57.
Lastly, and perhaps least important of them all, Rose-Marsh happens to be a redhead. In the event he does get tapped for the gig, it’d be an aesthetic first for the iconic mantle of James Bond… and a major boon for all the long-suffering gingers out there living in a post-Chris Lilley society.
Did Craig’s blonde Bond incursion open the floodgates?
Let’s see where the chips fall with this one…
