As is customary, another potential James Bond actor has stepped away from the running and grabbed a quick headline in the process. 41 year old actor Theo James, the Divergent, The White Lotus and The Gentlemen star, recently revealed in an interview that he considers himself “too old” for the role. Oddly enough, he also took a slight swipe at the 007 job, calling it a “place you could never come back from” because he would lose his “anonymity” and it would not be “worth it.”

As for that reasoning, I am not entirely convinced that James, or any modern day actor, would turn down the opportunity if it actually landed on their desk. The anonymity argument feels a convenient hypothetical excuse, while suggesting the role is not worth it seems to directly call out, but I guess try to overlook the enormous financial rewards, career recognition and sheer cultural significance that come with playing Bond. If the trade-off is having a few more paparazzi photos taken, I suspect most actors could find a way to cope with that inconvenience.

But alas, James has apparently made his choice known to the masses, so we can cross him off the list even though he didn’t need to and he could’ve just said “it would be an amazing honor to be offered the role.”