Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been a favorite to take on the role of the new James Bond, but he looked worlds away from the suave 007 viewers are accustomed to when he touched down in Venice for the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on Friday. The 35-year-old actor looked almost unrecognizable, sporting a much bushier beard and longer hair than usual as he made his way through Venice airport in a white shirt, a tan denim jacket, black pants, and a white baseball cap with sunglasses as he attempted to go incognito through arrivals.
According to WWD, Aaron is at the 2025 Venice Film Festival to attend the Giorgio Armani Cinema Club, a new format that aims to become a hub for actors, brands, and influencers to celebrate art, fashion, glamour, and beauty during the festival. As a long-standing ambassador for Armani, Aaron is expected to attend the events alongside fellow ambassadors Cate Blanchett and Sadie Sink.
Aaron's rugged new look is reportedly for his upcoming role in Werwulf, which will see him collaborate again with Nosferatu director Robert Eggers. Not much is known about the film yet, but it reportedly also stars Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe and is set in 13th-century England. Slated to be released on Christmas Day 2025, director Robert said at a Lincoln Centre Q&A that it will be his "darkest" film yet.
James Bond
Aaron has long been a frontrunner for the iconic role of MI6 agent, 007, but he has downplayed the possibility of him taking on the role, previously telling Esquire: "It's not really for me to say anything." However, his wife, Sam Taylor-Johnson, thinks Aaron would be "great" in the role. Appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show last year, director Sam was probed about the potential casting, to which she said: "Carry on speculating. He'd be great." Staying coy, she joked: "You mean that I might direct a Bond film? The first woman director."
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© BACKGRIDAaron has also gotten the seal of approval from former Bond star Pierce Brosnan. "I think the man has the chops and the talent and the charisma to play Bond, very much so," he said on RTÉ Radio 1's The Ray D'Arcy Show last March. Pierce recalled acting with Aaron in the 2009 film The Greatest, one of the first produced by his own company, Irish DreamTime, and also starring Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, and Michael Shannon.
© Getty Images for Giorgio Armani"One of the first movies we made, one of the earliest movies, was The Greatest. And he was the greatest in it," he remembered. "So, yes, I read the news about his possibilities of being a Bond, so I would definitely tip my hat to the fellow." Pierce reiterated his sentiments one year later when appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show.
© Getty Images"I think he would make a very fine Bond," he said. "He was actually in one of the movies I made called The Greatest. This young man we cast as 'The Greatest'. He was so impressive then. He just had this charisma; he had this presence… so he would be good. But there's many men on the list, I'm sure."
