Why this photo of Jacob Elordi may be the biggest Bond hint yet

Exclusive: The odds on Australian actor Jacob Elordi landing the coveted James Bond role are about to shorten, thanks to a slip up from his The Dog Stars co-star.

Josh Brolin – who plays Bangley, best friend to Elordi’s character Hig – confirms to nine.com.au that he’s spoken about the casting with his good friend Denis Villeneuve, the Canadian director and screenwriter at the helm of the new 007 era.

“Denis is a really close friend of mine, and I haven’t spoken to him [actually] I have spoken to him about it,” Brolin, 58, reveals in London.

“I think he’d be fantastic.”

When asked if he had specifically petitioned for Elordi, 28, to get the role as the iconic British spy, Brolin becomes coy.

“I’m not saying anything. I think he’d be great,” he responds.

“Daniel Craig was so great that it’s very hard, and there’s nobody better than – we were talking about this yesterday, and we were going, ‘Why is Denis doing [this]?’ You have to reinvent the whole thing but still within the parameters of what Bond is.

“It’s a really, it’s a difficult thing to do, but I can’t think of anybody better than Denis to do it.”

And if there’s one person who knows what Villeneuve is looking for, it’s Brolin, who has worked with the acclaimed director multiple times over more than a decade, starring in Sicario (2015), Dune: Part One (2021), Dune: Part Two (2024) and the upcoming Dune: Part Three (December 2026).

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Part of why Brolin would recommend the Wuthering Heights star for the action flick is the adaptability Elordi showed while working on The Dog Stars under director Ridley Scott, who is known for a unique style of filming with little rehearsal.

It left the acting legend impressed with the Brisbane-born star.

“He’s just a really pleasant, very professional, very willing [actor],” Brolin tells nine.com.au.

“You talk about the chaos of what we were doing. It’s very different for a 28-year-old than it is for a 58-year-old and somebody who’s been around.

“I can adjust to that chaos fairly easily – even though it’s out there that I wasn’t adjusting very well - whereas Jacob, I think, was in a similar panic, but we relied on each other in a way that I think works for the movie.”

In this movie, Brolin works alongside not only Elordi but another Australian actor he’s admired for years, Guy Pearce.

“Guy is amazing, and I got along with Guy so well,” Brolin tells nine.com.au

“We had known each other through other people, and kind of said ‘hello’, but never really spent any time together but it was instantaneous, the friendship.

“And, I don’t like to say this, but the respect - I mean, I’ve really respected what he’s done, I’m a fan of a lot of his films.”

Like Brolin, Pearce has also worked with Scott multiple times.

But he admits he doesn’t have first-hand knowledge as to why the famed director enjoys working with so many Aussies, including the likes of Cate Blanchett, Joel Edgerton, Hugh Jackman, Hugo Weaving, and now Elordi (who Pearce says “brings a pretty soulful quality to set”).

Pearce, who got his start on Aussie series Neighbours, jokes that he doesn’t believe he’s being hired for his soap star experience.

“There’s some pretty bad habits you pick up working on soaps,” Pearce admits.

“I had to unlearn a few things as well I think. So I don’t know that Ridley’s casting us because we were on Home and Away or Neighbours to be honest.”

But Brolin is also no stranger to working alongside Australians – including Russell Crowe, Sam Worthington, Chris Hemsworth and Naomi Watts – and has a great affinity towards them.

“Australians are good, man,” he says.

“They’re really good because they’re rough and tumble, and I get it because I grew up rough and tumble, as much as people think I was raised with a silver spoon in my mouth.

“I was around a lot of guys that remind me of a lot of Australians that I’ve gotten to know. And when you’re that comfortable with, again, uncertainty, it’s really fun to be around.”

The Dog Stars is in cinemas around Australia on August 27.