Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
Riz Ahmed wants to play James Bond so badly, he “stormed off” during an interview when being told by a co-star that he won’t be.

What did Riz Ahmed say about James Bond?

In a recent interview with Variety for his upcoming Amazon Prime Video series Bait — which incidentally revolves around Ahmed’s character auditioning for the role of the new Bond — Ahmed was open about his desire to play the character. He mentioned that every actor has an audition for the character, citing Daniel Craig’s 2004 film Layer Cake as a pseudo-Bond audition.

“Everyone has an audition for Bond. Daniel Craig’s was Layer Cake… This is my audition for Bond. I dare anyone to watch this show and think we shouldn’t play Bond,” said Ahmed before also joking that “I don’t mind who plays James Bond as long as it is me.”

When Ahmed’s co-star, Guz Kahn, informed him that there was almost no chance he was playing the character, Ahmed had heard enough. After Kahn joked that Jacob Elordi (who has been a favorite recently to play the role of Bond) has a better chance to play him, Ahmed finally got up and stormed off, causing a big laugh. Check out the moment below:

Riz Ahmed says he doesn’t mind who plays James Bond “as long as it’s me” and storms off set when Guz Khan says that “it’s likely” that Jacob Elordi will be Bond instead. Variety Studio presented by @Audible_com pic.twitter.com/q9qcoa3MjW— Variety (@Variety) January 23, 2026

Bait will release on March 25, 2026, when all six episodes of the comedy show will be available on the streaming platform. The series stars Riz Ahmed as Shah Latif, a struggling actor looking to make a name for himself when he’s given a huge audition.

“The series follows him over the course of four wild days as his life spirals out of control and his family, ex-lover and the entire world weigh in on whether he is the right man for the job,” reads the official description of the series.

Alongside Ahmed, Bait also stars Guz Khan as Zulfi, Sheeba Chaddha as Tahira, Sajid Hasan as Parvez, Aasiya Shah as Q, Weruche Opia as Felicia, and Ritu Arya as Yasmin. The series is written by Ahmed and executive produced by Allie Moore, Jake Fuller, Ben Karlin, and Ahmed as well. Bassam Tariq and Tom George serve as directors for the series. Ahmed and Ben Karlin serve as co-showrunners for the show.

Originally reported by Anthony Nash at Coming Soon.