Jack Lowden was the first choice

Perhaps the most predictable assumption about what that title is referring to is that Jack Lowden was the first choice to play James Bond, considering that he’s supposedly on the very short list of candidates who’ve have been in final screen tests for the role.

Jack, naturally, will not engage on the subject in his new interview with British GQ. But I do like how the magazine subtly refers to the speculation in one of the cover images – “going INCOGNITO”, for sure, nods to the spy thing and it’s a good point to make about Jack who can, at least today, still go incognito but maybe not much longer.

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Not much longer because in about six weeks, he will be this generation’s Mr Darcy in Netflix’s series adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and that’s the part for which he was the “first choice”, as showrunner Dolly Alderton and Emma Corrin, who plays Lizzy Bennet, explain in the article.

Pride and Prejudice will be a holiday obsession, it’s pretty much guaranteed. Everyone will know Jack then. Not that *some* people don’t know him now – but I would argue that he’s not mainstream critical mass; Slow Horses, though acclaimed, doesn’t have the reach of other series and there was a lot of “who is he?” in response to all the Bond rumours a couple of weeks ago. That would be some interesting momentum going into an announcement, by the way. If, that is, the eventual announcement has to do with him. And it might not. There’s been some buzz online about Callum Turner resigning from the production company he founded with Dua Lipa and people are taking that to be a hint that, perhaps, he’s confirmed the role. This report originated at the Daily Mail and it’s worth remembering (not that you could forget) that they often don’t know what the f-ckass they’re talking about because they’re too busy enabling pedophiles. If we’re looking for clues and coincidences, might as well highlight what the GQ profile points out: that well-known casting director Nina Gold is on the search for James Bond and she is also the one who cast Jack in Slow Horses.

Let’s keep the focus on romance for now instead of espionage. Mr Darcy is one of the most famous English lit leading men of all time, the prototype for the “cold CEO with a sensitive soul” trope in these stories. There’s been some question over whether or not he’ll be hot enough – I wonder if some of that doubt can be lessened with this photo shoot because it’s definitely doing it for me.

This is my favourite shot:

It’s the glasses. And the overcoat. And hair. I’m ready to swoon over a ginger Darcy.

Click here for more of Jack in British GQ.