Big Finish and Ian Fleming Publications have announced the actors who will bring Young Bond to life.
Isaac Rouse has been cast to play a young James Bond in SilverFin. Photo by Dave Bird
While Bond fans continue to wait for the next big-screen 007, another official James Bond has now been cast. Isaac Rouse will play the teenage Bond in Big Finish’s forthcoming adaptation of SilverFin, with Charlotte McBurney cast as Wilder Lawless. The production is due for release in October 2026.
More than 500 hopefuls applied for the role before producers narrowed the field to 12 finalists for studio auditions.
When you’re looking for someone to portray the icon that is Bond, you’ve got to get it right, so we cast the net wide. I listened to audio auditions from over 500 young hopefuls, from which we selected 12 to bring into studio and put through their paces. We had some truly wonderful Bonds on that day – some famous, some unknown – but Isaac was the best of the best.
Writer and director Barnaby Edwards said Rouse captured the character as imagined by both Ian Fleming and Charlie Higson.
His vision of Bond chimed so precisely with that of Fleming and Higson. He was the Bond of the books: tough but vulnerable, intelligent, witty, loyal, with a keen sense of justice and a strong dislike of bullies. Isaac is also a great leading man to work with. I genuinely cannot imagine a better actor to play Young Bond. It was very much a case of nobody does it better.
Rouse has appeared in The Crown, Get Even and Genius, and also played Charlie Bucket in Sam Mendes’ stage adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Producer Robert Valentine said he needed less than a minute to make up his mind.
When Isaac auditioned for us, in under a minute I was convinced we’d found our Young Bond.
He believes listeners will hear the future literary 007 in Rouse’s performance.
Isaac’s James Bond is very much in the Fleming mould, and even though he’s playing him as a young teenager, there’s every sense that he’s going to grow up to become the literary 007.
Charlotte McBurney plays Wilder Lawless. Photo by David Bird
McBurney, whose previous credits include the A Plague Tale games and Final Fantasy XVI, will voice Wilder Lawless, Bond’s free-spirited equestrian ally. Valentine was equally enthusiastic about that casting.
Charlotte McBurney was everything we were looking for in Wilder Lawless and more. Wilder is a force of nature, and Charlotte absolutely brings that to the role. She can play young – Wilder is sixteen – but she’s mature, fiery and exactly the person James Bond needs to help him save the day.
Edwards described Wilder as one of Higson’s best creations and said the role demanded someone who could stand alongside Bond rather than behind him.
Wilder Lawless is independent, feisty, funny, and, like James himself, punches up and never down. I thought she was a marvellous creation. This meant getting a leading lady who was every bit the equal of Isaac’s Bond.
The shortlist was eventually reduced to four actresses.
Charlotte shone out on the day. She gave her Wilder this irresistible impetuosity and infectious joie de vivre.
Amanda Douglas, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications, also welcomed the casting.
At Ian Fleming Publications, we were incredibly impressed by the talent on display throughout the audition process. Isaac brought a quiet confidence and authenticity that made him feel perfectly suited to the role of Young Bond, while Charlotte captured Wilder Lawless’s charisma and energy brilliantly. Together with the rest of the cast, they represent an exceptional group of performers, and we are delighted to have found such outstanding talent for our first full-cast audio production of Young Bond.
First published in 2005, SilverFin introduced Charlie Higson’s version of the teenage James Bond during his time at Eton. The audio adaptation will run across 16 half-hour episodes released as two box sets, making up around eight hours of drama. It also marks Ian Fleming Publications’ first full-cast audio production of the Young Bond series.
