James Bond: Odds cut on Edinburgh's Jack Lowden following in Sean Connery's footsteps to become next 007

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The ​star of movies such as Tommy's Honour, Dunkirk and Benediction ​has become a key Scottish contender for the coveted role​ with the odds on him landing the role cut to 28.

Speculation has been rife as to who​ will replace Daniel Craig after ​last year’s No Time to Die​ and it's​ perhaps unsurprising​ there are some other notable Scottish names in the running​, ​Gerard Butler, Richard Madden and Sam Hueghan​ being just three.

With Bond producers claiming they are looking for ‘something different’ for the next ​Bond​, could it be another Edinburgh actor who lands the part of the iconic superspy, which Connery made his own ​from​ 1962 ​to​ 1983?​ Lowden certainly has some Bond-like credentials having portrayed FBI agent Crawford in the Al Capone biopic Capone in 2020 - ​in that film he ​starred alongside fellow Bond contender, Tom Hardy​, who is ​currently priced at 5-1.

​A William Hill spokesperson, sa​ys​, “Although he may be lesser-known than some of the other names in the market, Jack Lowden is a good fit for 007 thanks to his Scottish connection, which could see him pick up where Sean Connery left off.

“And with producers confirming that they’re heading in a slightly different direction for the next casting, actors that see market shifts like Lowden could be a sign of where things are going.”

Lowden​'s first skirmish with performing came at Edinburgh's Manor School of Ballet where he and his brother, ​Callum, ​​attended dance classes for two years​.​“He was brilliant and I was awful, like really bad, but I sort of stuck with it. In the shows they said, ‘maybe you should narrate?’ and I was like, ‘but I wanna dance!’ I just loved being on the stage​,​”​ he once recalled, talking to Janet Christie for Scotland on Sunday.​

Brought up in the Borders, Jack ​found his true love of performing when he joined the Scottish Youth Theatre​, then based out of the Capital's King's Theatre​ and it was there that, like Connery, he made an early stage appearance; Connery appeared on the stage of the Old Lady of Leven Street in the Fifties, when he landed a small part in a production of the musical South Pacific, Lowden did so when he appeared as John in the King's panto, Peter Pan, when he was just 12 years old.

You might also remember him from the 2009 Irn Bru advert parodying High School Musical, when he was 18.

Lowden sits between Henry Golding and previous favourite Lydia West (33-1) in the odds​ to become the next 007 with Madden and​ ​Hueghan​ ​currently 8-1 and 16-1 respectively.​

​Others in the running are Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (25-1) and T’Nia Miller (25-1).​ ​The current frontrunner​, however,​ is Bridgerton heart​ ​throb Rege-Jean Page​ (​9-4​)​, followed by Idris Elba (9-2) and long-time favourite Man of Steel, Henry Cavill (5-1).

To see the full list of contenders for the next James Bond, please visit here

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