The position of James Bond has been vacant ever since Daniel Craig completed his run as the long-lasting character with No Time to Die again in 2021, and actors starting from Henry Cavill to Benedict Cumberbatch to Bridgerton vet Regé-Jane Web page have been floated as candidates for the following Bond. Latest 007 buzz has surrounded Taron Egerton, identified on the large display for the Kingsman movies, however he surprisingly mentioned that he does not assume he’d be a sensible choice for it. This jogged my memory of what Egerton informed CinemaBlend about engaged on Apple TV+’s Smoke as his newest small display enterprise.
Whereas Egerton is probably going greatest identified for his movie work, teaming up with Dennis Lehane for the wonderful Black Fowl again in 2022 resulted in a essential hit over six intense episodes. The duo collaborated for the second time on Smoke, which premiered again in June within the 2025 TV schedule. I will not get deep into spoilers right here for any newcomers, however suffice it to say that the drama centered on arson investigations was interesting sufficient to attract Jurnee Smollett again to TV and wasted no time on dropping an enormous reveal about Egerton’s character.
With Egerton deeming the James Bond position as “not fairly the factor that will make me happiest” (by way of Collider), I could not assist however assume again on his feedback concerning the enchantment of teaming up with Dennis Lehane for tv for the second time after Black Fowl. After I requested the actor what appealed to him about re-teaming with Lehane, Egerton defined:
Dennis is unimaginable, and any person who, when a script lands with me that he is written, the sensation of anticipation and pleasure is big. And to do one present with any person like that could be a privilege, and to get the shot at a second is to be actually blessed. It is also only a massively affirming, validating factor for any person like him to sort of entrust you with one other character, a personality that is so totally different, a personality that is such a problem, and so distinctive. I take into account myself very, very fortunate to be on this place with him once more.
Working as lead on a TV present – with or with out Dennis Lehane – means being trusted with a personality for a number of episodes, typically leading to rather more time enjoying one character than would occur even in a movie franchise. For instance, Taron Egerton’s two Kingsman movies thus far equal out to about 4.5 hours whole, whereas Smoke will run for 9 episodes. Black Fowl ran for six. (Each can be found streaming with an Apple TV+ subscription.)
Each Smoke and Black Fowl additionally gave Egerton the possibility to share a good quantity of screentime with costars like Paul Walter Hauser (Black Fowl) and Jurnee Smollett (Smoke). For Black Fowl, Hauser actually received the Critics Alternative Award, Emmy, and Golden Globe as Greatest Supporting Actor for his work, with Egerton incomes Golden Globe and Emmy nominations as Lead Actor.
After I requested Taron Egerton about his experiences working closely with these two costars, he described them as “Superb,” then went on:
Each of these actors, each Paul Hauser and Jurnee, they’ve a facility for play and being very alive within the second, which is the sort of, in my view, the prerequisite to a great actor, any person who can adapt and dance with you. Jurnee’s obtained this wonderful high quality of being each formidable and intimidating and really charged. She actually carries the burden of all of this trauma from her character’s previous, however she can also discover great lightness by way of all of that, and an actual facility for play. So working together with her was an actual pleasure and a extremely creatively rewarding expertise.
Does Taron Egerton’s evident satisfaction in collaborating with Dennis Lehane on TV reveals imply that he is giving up on movies? After all not, and it stays to be seen if Smoke might be his final TV mission for just a few years. Nonetheless, his feedback about engaged on the small display in comparison with feeling no need to play James Bond strike me as distinctive throughout the leisure trade.
As a fan of each Black Fowl and Smoke, I am actually not mad about Egerton’s willingness to department out from movie to tv when the fitting mission finds him!