Updated with video.
Everybody seems to have their own idea of the perfect actor to lead the James Bond movies. Those thoughts usually come from various rumors and reports that, in turn, move the needle on the odds that supposedly indicate which star is most favored to become next Bond. However, an AI engine has now been given a say, and it’s picked what it feels is the perfect Bond actor. This pick isn’t a new face but rather a current frontrunner, and I can’t wait to see how the 007 odds change in the wake of this announcement.
AI Software Deep Dream Seems To Favor Aaron Taylor Johnson As The Next 007
Per a recent report from The Times (via The Daily Mail), game studio Unwind Media used the DeepDream AI to create a portrait of the “perfect James Bond,” and it looks oddly similar to Bullet Train actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Though depending on who you talk to, Outlander star Sam Heughan is another candidate that seems to contribute to the digital DNA of this would-be super spy.
That's apparently what happens when you set the parameters to the new Bond’s alleged “thirty-something” age range, along with some additional tweaks. Told to generate a 007 that’s “a British male under 40 and stand[s] at over 5'10" tall,” the resulting image is very eerie when you consider that Sam Heughan's had quite a bit of time on the board speculated as the next 007.
Also, Taylor-Johnson was previously rumored to already be cast as Bond, which was enough to send the wheels of the rumor mill flying in his favor. With the Kick Ass alum overtaking previous favorites Henry Cavill and Regé-Jean Page as the top choice to fight for king and country late last year, that surely has to have had an effect on how this AI portrait came to be. Especially when, in a similar exercise, the supposedly perfect Bond Woman has also been selected.
DeepDream Has Also Picked The Perfect Bond Woman
In the source cited above, it was also reported that DeepDream was asked to cook up what the perfect Bond Woman would look like. And surprise surprise, it came up with an image that looks like another actor that’s been highlighted as a strong candidate reported by The Mirror amid recent press rounds. For those of you curious as to who that actor turned out to be, it’s Charlotte Kirk, who’s known for previous roles in How To Be Single, Ocean’s 8, and the recent Shudder release The Reckoning.
“A British actress in her mid-twenties and 5'7" tall” was the order that Unwind Media ordered its AI accomplice to fill, and Ms. Kirk would appear to be the actor who apparently best resembles that portrait. Of course, that’s based on the specifications locked into the above statement. Should the James Bond franchise follow that brief, it would be pretty exclusionary, especially considering the history of 007 has shown a diverse array of women who were James Bond’s equal, like Michelle Yeoh, and more recently Ana de Armas, who was arguably the best part of No Time to Die.
There are a lot of questions that need to be asked when it comes to how AI-generated artwork pulls from both the specifications laid out, as well as the landscape of popular opinion. Also, one has to wonder how DeepDream would confuse a camera lens for a watch face; a debate that falls right alongside the questions of why AI art can’t get human hands right. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see if Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Charlotte Kirk’s 007 odds start to pick up because of this little exercise.
For those of you human artists who love to create fan art of 007 hopefuls like Henry Cavill, you now have two actors to practice with until Bond 26’s leads are announced. In the meantime, the next film is set to start production early 2024, and the search for the next face of Commander Bond is pending the arrival of a script at EON Productions.
