Unknown actor is shock favorite to be new James Bond with string of A-listers set for screen tests in days

Who will get to the coveted license to kill?

“Bond 26” director Denis Villeneuve and casting director Nina Gold have scoured the UK and looked at a stream of unknowns to play the new 007, we’ve learned. And one man emerged from the pack, we hear: Actor Jack Barton, who played a tiny role in “Poor Things” — do you remember Fop 1? He’s also done some prestige Brit TV (Steven Knight’s “SAS: Rogue Heroes”) and Netflix teen ennui (“Heartstopper”). But insiders say he’s The One.

Or at least the one who sits atop the James Bond heap before Amazon gets to testing a small group of much better known leading men. 

Sources tell Page Six Hollywood that those screen tests are scheduled to begin in early September. (Why make Hollywood’s most in-demand next-gen heartthrobs blow up their summers to screen test?) As for who is on that short list, we hear it includes Jack Lowden, Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal and Harris Dickinson. (We previously told you about Elordi’s very Bond-esque ad for Chanel that may have doubled as a soft audition for the Ian Fleming protagonist.)

There is plenty of debate over whether the Brit superspy should be portrayed by a fresh face or recognizable star. Bond’s longtime casting director Debbie McWilliams was emphatic that the role should go to a newcomer. McWilliams, who cast Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Craig, retired long before “Bond 26” became a reality — but still has opinions on the matter.

“It is absolutely essential that [Bond] retains a total enigma,” McWilliams told The Independent in June. “I don’t want to see any of [the rumored stars] as Bond because we now know so much about them. We want to know as little about them personally as possible, because that’s what spies are. We don’t need to know where he goes shopping or who his parents are, or where he lives. We never want to see him at home. And a vital element of the whole thing is his job description. He’s licensed to kill, and we have to believe that he can do that. If you don’t, then you’ve lost the audience.”

Well, we can’t even find out how old Barton is, never mind where he buys groceries. He does have a barebones Wikipedia page that notes he attended Oxford School of Drama, which has produced such thesps as Claire Foy and Jemma Powell.

Interestingly, Barton is repped by Craig’s UK publicists. 

Amazon declined comment and referred Page Six Hollywood to its statement released in May: “The search for the next James Bond is underway. While we don’t plan to comment on specific details during the casting process, we’re excited to share more news with 007 fans as soon as the time is right.”