One thing, untouched

With the hunt for the next 007 underway, former Bond girl Alison Papworth has a single request for the producers: keep Bond a man.

“If they're true to the books, I hope it's a man. A man, just a man.”

Another gorgeous man

Papworth thinks casting a woman would make it a different thing entirely. She wants the part to stay close to Ian Fleming's original.

“So I hope it's another man, another gorgeous man.”

Gary Oldman spills

On Canadian talk show The Morning Show, Oldman said his Slow Horses costar Jack Lowden is rumored to be on the shortlist, and that producers have already chosen.

“They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet.”

Then he walked it back

Oldman later told Deadline he does not actually know who got it. He heard a rumor, there are six names on the list, and he is rooting for Lowden.

“So I do not know [who has got the part], but I'm hoping it's Jack.”

Amazon holds the keys

Amazon MGM Studios took creative control of the franchise in 2025 through a joint venture with longtime producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Villeneuve is directing

The studio announced the search in May. Denis Villeneuve directs, Steven Knight writes, and Paul Mescal, Jacob Elordi and Jack O'Connell are all rumored contenders.

Film 26, four years on

The next installment will be the 26th Bond film in a franchise past 60 years old. Daniel Craig last played the part in 2021's No Time to Die.

Roger Moore, gentleman

Papworth appeared in 1981's For Your Eyes Only and 1983's Octopussy. She remembers Moore as funny, dry and droll, and tells one odd story about him.

“I only have fabulous, fabulous memories of him being funny, telling the best jokes.”

Beef drippings in a suitcase

On location in India, a stuntman smuggled beef drippings in his luggage because Moore loved them. Papworth has remembered it for forty years.

“It was very funny, and it stuck in my mind all those years later.”

First class, then frostbite

She flew first class to Rio, drank vodka and tried caviar. Then came Octopussy's castle fight, shot at Pinewood below freezing in red bodysuits over thermals.

“We were so cold, we had thermals on underneath, so we probably looked about five pounds heavier.”

Off the scrap heap

A publicity director warned her that one Bond film meant the Bond girl scrap heap. Then Barbara Broccoli rang to say she was in the next one.

“You're on the next one, Alison.”

The friendships outlasted the films

She met Vanya Seager on For Your Eyes Only and Carole Ashby on Octopussy. Carole was there when her baby was born, and she speaks to both every day.

“So without Bond, I wouldn't have those two incredible bonds.”

A second act by design

When modeling leveled out in her 30s, her husband handed her properties to decorate. That became Camhall Design, which she still runs after his death.

“I'm totally self-taught, but I'm passionate about it.”