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Interview || Gangs of London star Sope Dirisu breaks silence on buzz around him being next James Bond: ‘My biggest…’
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Gangs of London star Sope Dirisu talks about the entertainment world getting more diverse, and the James Bond buzz.
The next James Bond film has found its director in Dune-fame Denis Villeneuve. Now, the search is on for the next 007, with Sope Dirisu, star of Gangs of London, being rumoured as a potential candidate. Reacting to the speculation, the English actor expressed his gratitude.
On the James Bond buzz
For Sope, his role as an undercover police officer character in Gangs of London, the Gareth Evans-created brutal and blood-soaked crime thriller series, led to the conversations around him being the next James Bond film after Daniel Craig.
The actor is aware of the speculation surrounding his potential role as the next James Bond, but he is choosing to neither confirm nor deny the rumours. When asked if he was open to entering the James Bond world, Sope said, “Well, I think amid all things, it's important to give thanks.”
“That’s a lesson that I was taught when I was young. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to play such wonderful actors and (work with) wonderful creatives in the series. I'm grateful for the attention that the series has received and that we've all received individually,” he adds.
Talking about the buzz, Sope shares, “I'm grateful to be considered that my talents are good enough to perhaps be in that conversation. So yeah, I'm just grateful. It's my biggest takeaway from all of it.”
Before that, Sope has returned to the screen as the action hero with the third season of Gangs of London, which streams in India on JioHotstar.
On diverse landscape
Sope, who was born in 1991 in London to Nigerian parents, has featured in projects such as Sand Castle, Criminal, The Huntsman: Winter's War, and Malcolm's List.
The actor notes that the entertainment industry is becoming more diverse, but he's approaching the trend with caution.
“It's very easy to see a lot of diversity that happens in projects now, cynically. It's easy to say that ‘oh they're targeting all the different markets in the world to make sure they have a global fan base by putting an actor that represents different continents’... But in Gangs of London, I knew that it wasn't the play. The show comes with such a wonderful representation of the diverse and multicultural nature of the city of London,” he says, adding, “It is a character in itself, and it would be just dishonest to represent it any other way.”
For him, London is a “confluence point for lots of different countries, cultures and languages”. “And it makes me so proud to be a part of a series that doesn't avoid the hurdle of subtitles, and it encourages actors to bring their own cultures and bring their own languages to their characters,” he notes.
On desire to come to India
During the conversation, Sopes admits that he is desperate to come to India. “All of the films, TV shows and culture that I've received from afar have just lured me even more to come sooner. I'm fascinated by the diversity, not just of culture but of like geography in the country,” he says.
How? “I wanna go up in the mountains, I wanna go to the jungles, I wanna go to the beaches, I wanna go to the cities. I wanna taste the food. All of my friends who have been there have said that their stomachs couldn't handle it, but being of Nigerian descent, I might be able to put up a good bit of resistance. There is such a wonderful parallel between African and Indian, or even Nigerian and Indian, culture. And I would love to see the richness of the world reflected in India as it is in Nigeria as well,” he ends.
