Riz Ahmed's Bait: A Hilarious Take on the James Bond Casting Frenzy
Britain remains utterly obsessed with who will next portray James Bond, yet the iconic spy remains frustratingly elusive. Earlier this year, rumors swirled that Callum Turner had been anointed as 007 between holidays with pop star girlfriend Dua Lipa, though such claims should be taken with considerable skepticism after previous reports declared Aaron Taylor-Johnson a dead cert. Meanwhile, public clamor continues for contenders like Jacob Elordi, while Barry Keoghan recently ruled himself out entirely. Just this week, Saturday Night Live UK featured a promo where host Jamie Dornan and cast member Al Nash compared their Bond chances, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw told The Independent it's time for a female 007. Soon, it seems census workers might be going door-to-door asking every young person in the country to audition.
Ahmed Creates His Own Vehicle
Thankfully, Riz Ahmed isn't waiting around for the call. Instead, the 43-year-old Four Lions star has constructed a vehicle for himself with more tricks than a fully-equipped Aston Martin DB5. In the new Prime Video series Bait, which Ahmed both wrote and stars in, he portrays Shah Latif, a struggling British Asian actor whose life is dramatically upended after he intentionally allows a paparazzo to photograph him leaving his audition to play Britain's least secretive spy. Initially, Bait unfolds more like a screwball comedy than a spy thriller, with everyone including Latif's family utterly baffled when the story breaks. His father memorably enquires: "Did Craig Daniel die?"
As Bait progresses, it becomes evident that Bond, as the title implies, serves merely as the hook for a much deeper narrative. In truth, Ahmed has crafted a many-layered and profoundly personal tale exploring multiculturalism, machismo, and the crushing weight of family expectations. In real life, Ahmed is far from a struggling actor. He made history in 2021 as the first Muslim and first British Pakistani actor nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor for Sound of Metal, winning an Oscar the following year for his short film The Long Goodbye. Yet he shares significant common ground with his character. Both have backgrounds in outspoken activist rap music, and both have evidently struggled to reconcile their public and private lives.
Personal Inspiration and Social Commentary
Ahmed recently revealed that Bait was partly inspired by his experience starring in the big-budget Spider-Man spin-off Venom, only to be shortly afterwards banned from his local Tesco under suspicion of shoplifting. That anecdote, and the racism inherent within it, is magnified throughout Bait. When news breaks about Latif potentially playing Bond, the online response proves predictably toxic, taking an even darker turn when his family has a severed pig's head thrown through their front window. The series thoughtfully explores the subtle challenges that arise when someone is forced to act as a representative for an entire culture.
In one pivotal scene, Latif suspects MI5 is pushing him toward the Bond role to use him as a puppet spokesperson to his own community. "I thought I'd be representing us to them," frets Latif. "Not them to us." While delving into these weighty themes, Ahmed masterfully mines plenty of laughs from the juxtaposition of Latif's apparent professional success and his disintegrating personal life. He's ably assisted by Man Like Mobeen star Guz Khan, who delivers a scene-stealing performance as Latif's cousin Zulfi. Their banter perfectly captures sibling ambivalence. "Cuz, look at me, I'm proud of you..." says Zulfi upon hearing the Bond rumor, immediately adding: "Do they know about your height? Are they going to give you special shoes? James Bond's big, innit?"
Supporting Cast and Cultural Weight
The casting proves inspired throughout, with Patrick Stewart lending his voice to a deftly surreal supporting role and Yesterday star Himesh Patel appearing in a cameo as Latif's more successful rival Raj Thakkar. Promisingly, Amazon allowed the show to reference the actual James Bond character and the real-life casting hoopla rather than forcing Ahmed to create a knock-off spy lacking the same cultural weight. Because nothing quite compares to the Bond role and its surrounding expectations. Even Daniel Craig, who eventually starred in five films over fifteen years, was initially deemed all wrong for the part. When hired in 2005, he was best known as Geordie from Our Friends in the North, with tabloids declaring him too rugged, too moody, and too blonde. The Daily Mirror ran the front-page headline: "The Name's Bland – James Bland."
Craig worked diligently to build his career outside the franchise, successfully finding a very different hero to inhabit with Knives Out detective Benoit Blanc. After shooting Spectre in 2015, he famously said he'd "rather slash my wrists" than make another Bond film, though he later recanted before 2021's No Time To Die. For young actors coveting the role as Britain's signature hero, there must be wariness about embodying a character audiences feel such intense ownership over. Much has been written about Amazon's plans for Bond after purchasing the creative rights for $20 million last year, following their $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM. Bait certainly has far more going for it than the widely panned 2023 reality game show 007: Road to a Million.
Five years after Craig's final outing in No Time To Die, the next 007 film has Dune director Denis Villeneuve attached and Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight working on the script, yet we remain no closer to discovering the next James Bond. With Bait, Ahmed powerfully demonstrates that landing the part shouldn't represent the pinnacle of any actor's ambition. There are so many more interesting stories still waiting to be told. Bait is currently streaming on Prime Video.
