First of all, Anthony Horowitz may be a bestselling author in England, but he’s not Ian Fleming.
Fleming created James Bond, who made his first appearance in the 1953 novel Casino Royale and immediately became a hit. Fleming had served in British naval intelligence during the Second World War and began his career as a novelist while living in Jamaica.
He continued to write the wildly popular Bond stories at a rate of about a book a year until his death in 1964, living to see Sean Connery portray the spy in the first two films, Dr No and To Russia with Love.
Horowitz, known for his teen spy Alex Rider series, has been brought on by the Fleming estate to write the newest Bond book, Trigger Mortis. He’s one of several writers to have continued the Bond series, including Sebastian Faulks, Wiliam Boyd, Jeffrey Deaver, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, and Kingsley Amis writing as Robert Markham.
Horowitz has something to say about the casting of the next Bond. He thinks Idris Elba, rumoured to be a strong contender for the role, is “too street.”
“For me, Idris Elba is a bit too rough to play the part,” Horowitz told the Daily Mail. “It’s not a colour issue. I think he is probably a bit too ‘street’ for Bond. Is it a question of being suave? Yeah.”
Elba came to the attention of American audiences in The Wire, where he played Stringer Bell, a gang leader with a head for business. In the British television series Luther, he plays a brilliant but haunted homicide detective. He played Heimdall in The Avengers: Age of Ultron and Thor. He has upcoming roles in Star Trek Beyond, Beasts of No Nation and the spy thriller Bastille Day. And he portrayed South African hero Nelson Mandela in the 2013 biopic Mandela: Long Walk Home.
Horowitz apologised on Tuesday with a post on Twitter.
“In the article I expressed the opinion that to my mind Adrian Lester would be a better choice but I’m a writer not a casting director so what do I know?” he said in a statement that was posted to his Twitter account. “Clumsily, I chose the word ‘street’ as Elba’s gritty portrayal of DCI John Luther was in my mind but I admit it was a poor choice of word. I am mortified to have caused offence.”
